Tag Archives: MTV

Hangout Festival: Seven Can’t-Miss Hip-Hop Moments

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Kendrick Arrives In Style

MTV News’ Hottest MC in the Game missed his flight but chartered a private jet in order to avoid disappointing the crowd at Hangout Fest. The Compton MC arrived in style less than 30 minutes after his set was originally scheduled to begin and immediately took control of the crowd, rewarding their patience with fan favorites from both good kid, m.A.A.d city and his Section.80 independent album and knocked out his featured verse on A$AP Rocky’s “F—in’ Problems.”

Macklemore Walks The Walk

You can’t escape them. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are all over the radio, in commercials and even closed out the Boom Boom Tent on the first night of Hangout. Macklemore walked all over the audience, crossing a sea of hands as he made his way across the overflow crowd. Oh, and for an encore, he rode a killer whale into the audience during their performance of “Thrift Shop.”

Public Enemy ‘Fight the Power’

On Saturday, Public Enemy took to the stage to remind the Hangout crowd why they are the latest hip-hop inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They delivered a punishing set that included nearly all of their hits, but the highlight may have been their performance of their 1989 anthem “Fight the Power.”

Sway’s Surprise Rap Battle

Kendrick’s lateness forced Sway to hold it down a little longer than expected in between sets. MTV News’ own was hyping crowds between sets and when Compton’s good kid was running late, Sway hosted an unexpected rap battle between wannabe MCs pulled from the audience. Nineteen-year-old Matt Webb from Gulf Breeze, Florida, was the crowd favorite.

The Roots ‘Get Busy’

The Roots are reliable regulars at summer festivals, playing weekend gigs that fit into their “Late Night” schedule, and they always deliver a memorable show. Hangout was no different. One of the crowd’s favorite moments was when they played 2008′s “Get Busy” into a cover of Kool & The Gang’s “Jungle Boogie.”

Kendrick Praises Kanye

Kanye may not have been at Hangout Music Festival, but he was on the lips of nearly everyone there. After revealing “New Slave” on Friday night by playing the video on 66 buildings around the world, Yeezy hit “Saturday Night Live” the very next night to debut “Black Skinhead.” And of course, his soon-to-be baby mama confirmed Yeezus as his album title, giving meaning to the widely speculated June 18 release date and unveiling the album artwork. On Saturday afternoon, Sway asked Kendrick what he thought of Kanye’s album rollout.

Macklemore’s Festival Tip

When you’re at a three day festival, eating is key to survival. Hangout has no shortage of food, but Macklemore said that one food really stood out.

Check out the latest news, interviews, performances and more from the Shores at Hangout.MTV.com.

Kendrick Lamar On Hangout Fest Set: Started From the Bottom, Now He’s Here

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By Gil Kaufman, with reporting by Sway Calloway

GULF SHORES, Alabama — Kendrick Lamar’s journey has, literally, taken him from the bottom to the top.

“That’s a crazy feeling,” said Lamar of the rapturous response from the audience at the Boom Boom Stage just moments after playing a

roof-raising? Saturday night headlining set at the Hangout Festival.

“That’s my first time out here, so to get that type of love on my first trip is [an] amazing feeling.” Of course, it’s not Lamar’s first festival show, but there was something about watching the massive crowd singing along to nearly every line to every song from his catalog that really made an impact on the Compton, California, MC.

“Let it all hang out onstage, man,” Lamar said about what he learned from the festivals he played last year. “At the show they want to see a great performance. Festivals they want to see a great performance and party at the same time.” That’s why he made sure to play three or four songs back-to-back and spray the over-heated throng with water at Hangout to keep their energy up.

When MTV News’ Sway Calloway asked what it was like to see nearly everyone in the audience shouting along to most of the songs, Lamar said the feeling was indescribable. “You know what I trip off on Sway?” he said. “Knowing where I wrote the lyrics at. When I wrote them it was this small little kitchen in Compton and to come all the way across the world, the country and these people singing it like they wrote it with me? That’s the best feeling.”

We’re live-streaming performances throughout the weekend on our official Hangout hub, bringing you interviews, behind-the-scenes access and on-demand performances from all your favorite artists on MTV.com, VH1.com, CMT.com and LogoTV.com. Highlights from Hangout 2013, will also air on MTV, VH1, CMT, MTV2, MTV Hits, MTV Jams, VH1 Classic and Palladia.

MTV, VH1 and CMT are on the ground at Hangout 2013, bringing you all the latest news, interviews, performances and more from the Shores. If you’re not able to be there, be sure to check in and watch live streaming performances all weekend.

Sway Hosts Surprise Rap Battle Before Kendrick Lamar Hangout Set

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By Gil Kaufman

GULF SHORES, Alabama — Before Matt Webb, 19, drove from Gulf Breeze, Florida, to check out Kendrick Lamar’s headliner set at the Hangout Festival on Saturday night he had one dream: to get on stage. Well, thanks to the Compton, California, MC

missing his scheduled flight, Webb got his wish. While Lamar was jetting to the site on a private plane, MTV News’ Sway Calloway kept the audience entertained by asking if there were any real MC’s in the crowd.

At first, just about everyone in the packed Boom Boom Tent raised their hands, and after a few false starts, Calloway found a potential rhyme slayer in Webb, a Pensacola State College physical therapy assistant student who said his spotlight was the first time he’s taken the stage in front of such a big audience.

“That was a good surprise,” said a still buzzing Webb after leaving the stage following some props from Sway. “Before I came here I talked about wanting to get on the stage and then it happened!” Webb, who runs with the Purple Heart Gang (check out their Just Dreamin’ mixtape) and goes by the stage name Tempoh, wasn’t shy about taking the stage and spitting.

“You know I got ballistic/being me is impossible/like Tom Cruise on a mission,” he rhymed. “Do you get it/are you with it?/Haters livid cuz I live it/Very vivid on my image … but who am I kidding cuz I do this for myself/For my team, for my fam, I do this just to help/I do it for the fanbase and I do it to death/And, man, I’m a do this till there is nothing left/I’m gone.”

We’re live-streaming performances throughout the weekend on our official Hangout hub, bringing you interviews, behind-the-scenes access and on-demand performances from all your favorite artists on MTV.com, VH1.com, CMT.com and LogoTV.com. Highlights from Hangout 2013, will also air on MTV, VH1, CMT, MTV2, MTV Hits, MTV Jams, VH1 Classic and Palladia.

MTV, VH1 and CMT are on the ground at Hangout 2013, bringing you all the latest news, interviews, performances and more from the Shores. If you’re not able to be there, be sure to check in and watch live streaming performances all weekend.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Crush Some Catfish At Hangout Festival

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by Gil Kaufman

GULF SHORES, Alabama — As one of the select hip-hop headliners at this weekend’s Hangout Festival, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis had some serious priorities. Yes, one was representing for the genre, but the other was crushing one of the local delicacies while hanging out in the plush artist area before their Friday night set.

Mack and Lewis have played a lot of festivals, but Hangout was a whole new experience for them. “You know what? [I] Immediately hit the catering … catfish!” said Macklemore during some downtime before the duo’s high-energy set in the Boom Boom Tent. “You can’t go wrong with catered catfish at a festival. It came with some sauce, the sauce was great. That was amazing and then we walked out and there’s hammocks and I fell asleep for like two hours.”

Then, the Seattle slayers just kicked back in the sand with MTV News’ Sway Calloway and took in the “spectacles” laying out on the beach, which stretched as far as the eye could see. They were also psyched to get that headliner slot on Friday, which is another recent experience for them.

“For so long we would come to these festivals and it was show and prove time,” said Macklemore. “‘For real? They put us on at 1:15? All right, there’s no one here but we gotta still kill it. To be in a prime time slow, closing out one of the stages of the day, it’s dope. I miss that, ‘okay, we have to be hungry, we have to show these fools what’s up so in a couple years when they book us again we’re gonna get that spot.’ But to have that spot finally, it’s great.”

And they didn’t disappoint, capping a hectic day of beachside music with a set heavy with their breakthrough hits,

surfing the crowd on inflatable whales
and taking a minute to talk about their support for marriage equality during “Same Love.”

We’re live-streaming performances throughout the weekend on our official Hangout hub, bringing you interviews, behind-the-scenes access and on-demand performances from all your favorite artists on MTV.com, VH1.com, CMT.com and LogoTV.com. Highlights from Hangout 2013, will also air on MTV, VH1, CMT, MTV2, MTV Hits, MTV Jams, VH1 Classic and Palladia.

MTV, VH1 and CMT are on the ground at Hangout 2013, bringing you all the latest news, interviews, performances and more from the Shores. If you’re not able to be there, be sure to check in and watch live streaming performances all weekend.

Hangout Music Festival Continues With The Roots And Kendrick Lamar

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by Maurice Bobb

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis kicked off the hip-hop portion of the 2013 Hangout Music Festival Friday (May 17) with a bang and it was all “Same Love” with the capacity crowd in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

The Seattle-based duo crowd-surfed and kept the energy on tilt throughout their set, which included “Ten Thousand Hours,” “Crew Cuts,” “Can’t Hold Us” and, of course “Thrift Shop,” the song that started pair’s supersonic orbit into superstardom.

Next up on the rap bill is MTV’s Hottest MC, Kendrick Lamar, The Roots and recent inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Public Enemy. MTV will continue its on-the-ground coverage of the Alabama festival all weekend with behind the scenes looks, news, interviews, updates and live streaming performances.

Loved Macklemore and Ryan Lewis‘ performance? MTV, VH1 and CMT are live from Hangout 2013, bringing you all the latest news, interviews, performances and more from the Shores. If you’re not able to be there, be sure to check in and watch live streaming performances all weekend.

Starting Friday, MTV, VH1 and CMT will be on the ground at Hangout 2013, bringing you all the latest news, interviews, performances and more from the Shores. If you’re not able to be there, be sure to check in and watch live streaming performances all weekend.

Kanye West Premieres ‘New Slaves’ On Buildings Worldwide

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by Maurice Bobb

Leave it to Kanye West to find the most innovative way to premiere his new music video, “New Slaves,” which is likely the first single from his long-awaited follow-up LP to 2010’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Instead of opting for YouTube or MTV for his big reveal, the enigmatic rapper/producer projected the visuals for his latest track on the sides of buildings in 66 locations around the globe.

Yeezy gave his fans little warning prior to the viewing of his “street” single with a message on Twitter directing them to go to his website, KanyeWest.com for viewing times and locations. MTV News was on the scene on the corner of 14th Street and 10th Avenue in New York City’s Meatpacking District, where some 100 fans gathered to get a glimpse of their favorite rapper’s new rap.

The show was an hour late, but when the truck the drove around the city projected the video flashed the black and white image on a matte black wall, all was forgiven as the crowd gasped at ‘Ye’s ingeniously creative product.

The set the tone for somber, yet admonishing song, the G.O.O.D. Music mogul rapped, “My mama was raised in the era when/ Clean water was only served to the fairer skin/ Threw on clothes, you would’ve thought I had help/ But they wasn’t satisfied unless I picked the cotton myself.”

More harrowing was the “All Falls Down” MC’s next verse, which challenged the materialistic habits of hip-hop fans, most notably African-Americans.

“What you want a Bentley, fur coat, a diamond chain/ All you blacks want all the same things,” he rhymed, eyes piercing through the listener.

Attendees cheered the four-minute presentation, which was an appropriate and appetizing salvo for Saturday (May 17) night’s appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” where he’ll undoubtedly perform “New Slaves” and other new material from his upcoming sixth studio album.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Bring ‘Same Love’ To Hangout Fest

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By Sowmya Krishnamurthy

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis brought thrift shop swag to the Hangout Music Festival today. The chart-topping duo’s set was high-energy, electrifying the crowd at the burgeoning concert series taking place on the beaches of Alabama. The bill boasts Kendrick Lamar and a slew of multi-genre heavyweights like Kings of Leon, Stevie Wonder and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Imagine Dragons.

Outfitted in a grey poncho with a tribal print, blue sneakers and his signature slicked-back hairstyle, Macklemore kicked things off with “Ten Thousand Hours.” “I was made to slay them/Ten thousand hours/I’m so damn close I can taste it,” Mack rapped. Accompanied by a trumpet player, the duo then hopped into “Crew Cuts.”

Mack then threw off his poncho to reveal a black tank top and got into the theatrics of “Life is a Cinema.” The bikini-clad crowd went wild for the Seattle rapper. At one point, he put on a leopard jacket (a very tight one at that). An apt ensemble change for the song that made him a household name, “Thrift Shop.” Wanz joined, in a bright red suit, to sing the hook, as did frenetic background dancers.

Macklemore was clearly having fun at the festival and shared it was his first time performing in Alabama. “So this is the first day of the festival. Am I correct?” he asked the energetic crowd. Macklemore joined the fun and literally rode into a giant, inflatable whale in the audience. Swag surfing, indeed. But it wasn’t all fun and games. Macklemore also took the time to get serious. He shared that the country was in an epic time in history and witnessing a major civil rights movement. “I believe in tolerance. I believe in compassion,” he said and jumped into “Same Love.”

Love Macklemore and Ryan Lewis‘ performance? MTV, VH1 and CMT are live from Hangout 2013, bringing you all the latest news, interviews, performances and more from the Shores. If you’re not able to be there, be sure to check in and watch live streaming performances all weekend.

Starting Friday, MTV, VH1 and CMT will be on the ground at Hangout 2013, bringing you all the latest news, interviews, performances and more from the Shores. If you’re not able to be there, be sure to check in and watch live streaming performances all weekend.