Nicki Minaj pulls out of gig after host insults her single [Updated]

At best, it's counterintuitive to insult your headliner right before he or she takes the stage, and probably just not a good idea. Especially if it's Nicki Minaj.

The pink-haired rapper was set to headline Hot 97′s Summer Jam festival in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday but pulled out shortly before her set. Minaj nixed her performance at the festival, one of only a few annual hip-hop events of its size, following disparaging remarks from Hot 97 personality Peter Rosenberg, who also hosts MTV's "Hip-Hop Squares."

Rosenberg, obviously not a fan of Minaj's club-friendly, RedOne-produced jingle, "Starships," told the crowd that the radio station was “all about that real hip-hop.”

Chris Brown teases 'Fortune' with free tracks [Listen]

A lot of things can be argued about Chris Brown, but no one can say that the man doesn’t love his fans.

Never one to keep his experiments in the studio under wraps for too long, the singer has now released a handful of tracks to tease his upcoming album, “Fortune” -- just because.

For the last few days, Brown has taken to Twitter (a place that seems to lead him to his fair share of controversy and media scrutiny) to drop tracks -- most of which aren’t set for inclusion on his upcoming fifth album, which was pushed back from May 8 to July 3.

Beyonce, Pitbull, Steven Tyler get animated for Fox film

Beyonce, Pitbull and Steven Tyler are set to get animated for a new Fox film, according to a Deadline report.

The music superstars will lend their voices to the 3-D computer animated film “Epic,” which is being produced by 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios.

“Epic” is helmed by “Ice Age” director Chris Wedge and is described as a battle between good and evil after a teenage girl finds herself transported into a magical secret universe. There she is tasked with saving the world, alongside a team of whimsical characters.

Grammys set for Feb. 10 in Los Angeles

The 55th annual Grammy Awards will be held Feb. 10, 2013, the Recording Academy announced  Thursday.

“Music's Biggest Night” will once again take place at the Staples Center, with the academy’s nomination concert special airing Dec. 5, 2012.

RELATED: 2012 Grammy coverage

This year's telecast drew nearly 40 million viewers, the largest audience since 1984 and the second largest in history. The telecast also boasted the highest ratings of the award show season, and became one of the largest social events in the history of television, with social networks buzzing over Adele's Grammy sweep and the emotional impact of the ceremony as pop icon Whitney Houston passed away the day before, forcing organizers to revamp the show in the eleventh hour.

The Grammy winners are determined by about 13,000 voting members. The eligibility period for nominated recordings is Oct. 1, 2011, to Sept. 30, 2012. The awards will be televised on CBS and will be broadcast live except to viewers on the West Coast.

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2012 Grammy coverage

Adele affirmed, Whitney Houston mourned

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-- Gerrick D. Kennedy

Photo: Adele sweeps at the 54th annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 12, 2012. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

No Doubt to premiere new music at Teen Choice Awards

No Doubt fans eager to hear samples of a long-simmering reunion album will finally get a taste when the band hits the stage at the upcoming Teen Choice Awards.

The Grammy Award-winning SoCal ska-pop band will perform together for the first time in a year-and-a-half at the awards, airing live on Fox on July 22, where they plan to debut the first single off their new project.

“I can't believe this is actually happening. The idea of playing our new music live is heaven on earth,” lead singer Gwen Stefani said in a statement. “Can't wait to share it!!”

“We're so stoked to finally start performing these new songs live,” bassist Tony Kanal added. “And to be doing the first performance of our first single here in Los Angeles makes it even more awesome.”

The band has remained mostly mum about the follow-up to 2001's multi-platinum "Rock Steady,” dropping only a few Facebook photos and cryptic tweets during the lengthy writing and recording process. In September, band members announced that they needed to delay the as-yet-untitled project.

"Ideally, our new record would be coming out this year, but it's just not ready yet. We don't want to rush this album just to get it out," they wrote. "This collection of songs means everything to us, and our only priority right now is to make sure that it's the best album we can possibly make. There is still more work for us to do."

No Doubt last performed in 2010 at the annual Kennedy Center Honors.

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-- Gerrick D. Kennedy
Twitter.com/gerrickkennedy

Photo: No Doubt, from left, Adrian Young, Gwen Stefani, Tony Kanal and Tom Dumont. Credit: Los Angeles Times

'Duets': I missed it because of singing-show fatigue

“Duets,” I already owe you an apology.

I didn't intentionally snub your premiere Thursday night. It wasn't a slip by the ole trusty DVR. But to be completely fair, there's a severe case of viewer fatigue happening.

The premise is rather enticing: four massive-selling superstars artists -- Kelly Clarkson, Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles, John Legend (who replaced Lionel Richie in the eleventh hour) and Robin Thicke -- not only coach their selected contestants, they sing side by side with them.

It pushes forward “The Voice’s” close-knit mentorship between acts and their respective coaches. Of course, folks are eliminated, there’s a "save me" song, a record deal (Disney-owned Hollywood Records, which, surprise, also owns ABC), blah, blah, blah.

M.I.A. signs deal with Jay-Z's Roc Nation

Jay-Z’s Roc Nation will now manage electro-pop rapper M.I.A., the company announced Thursday.

“The nation just keeps on growing...,” read a tweet from Roc Nation directed to the politically charged Sri Lankan femcee. Roc Nation’s homepage also features a welcome to the performer, whose real name is Maya Arulpragasam.

Arulpragasam joins an eclectic mix of superstars that Jay’s company also manages including Rihanna, Santigold, Melanie Fiona, Wale, Mark Ronson and Shakira. Roc Nation also manages a slew of songwriters, producers, DJs, engineers and mixers.

Jay-Z protégé J. Cole, Willow Smith, R&B singer Bridget Kelly, Jay Electronica and British urban pop chameleon Rita Ora have all been signed to the label. M.I.A. is signed to Interscope Records.

Rihanna sent her well wishes to M.I.A., tweeting, “welcome home MIA.” On Monday, the singer teased her fans when she posted pictures of the two of them hanging out backstage at a Jay-Z and Kanye West concert in London.

M.I.A. is readying her fourth album, “Matangi,” which is due this fall through Interscope. She also announced a remix of her anthemic single, “Bad Girls,” which is set to feature Missy Elliott, Azealia Banks and her protégé, Rye Rye.

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-- Gerrick D. Kennedy

Photo: Screen shot of Roc Nation's home page announcing it had signed M.I.A. Credit: Gerrick Kennedy / Los Angeles Times.

Kanye West, Jay-Z's 'Throne' dominates BET Award nominations

Kanye West leads the list of nominations for the 2012 BET Awards, which the network announced on Tuesday.

West scored a leading seven, six of them the result of his heralded collaboration with Jay-Z.

When the two rap heavyweights announced they would join forces on “Watch the Throne,” under the equally royal moniker the Throne, it became one of last year’s most anticipated releases. Fans were eager to hear what the frequent collaborators would offer.

The pair bypassed traditional album promotion: They didn’t issue a handful of visuals for the singles outside of “Otis” and “ … In Paris” -- both of which compete for video of the year -- and if you wanted to see them perform together, the best chance was their massive fall tour, which became one of 2011’s highest grossing.

Michael Jackson's 'Bad' to get 25th anniversary reissue

In the three years following Michael Jackson's death, his estate has been conservative with posthumous releases from the King of Pop’s archives while focusing on other endeavors such as a hit video game and a Cirque du Soleil production.

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of his seminal 1987 disc, “Bad,” his estate, in collaboration with Epic/Legacy Recordings, will reissue the disc with new music and a never-before-released concert video, the label and his estate announced on Monday.

The anniversary edition of “Bad,” the first re-release of an album from Jackson's catalog since his 2009 death, will hit stores Sept. 18.

TIMELINE: Michael Jackson | 1949-2009

To roll out the reissue, the label will re-release the album’s first single, "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" -- the first of five of the album's singles to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 -- as a CD single with the previously unreleased bonus track "Don't Be Messin' 'Round (demo)" on June 5. The single is a Wal-Mart exclusive and won’t be available through digital retailers.

"I Just Can't Stop Loving You" will also be made available June 26 as a replica of the 7” vinyl released back in the day and includes the original B-side, "Baby Be Mine," not the unreleased bonus track.

Billboard Music Awards: A few observations

The 2012 Billboard Music Awards, which aired live for East Coasters from the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas Sunday night, earned the right to be called the most awkwardly awesome three hours (yes, three?!) of music to hit TV so far this year.

Raucous pop jokers LMFAO stripped down to their undies in the opening, Whitney Houston was beautifully feted, Taylor Swift was shocked to get yet another trophy, Justin Bieber outperformed Usher and Chris Brown, and platinum-selling pop stars either played karaoke or mimed their way through performances of their own hits.

Like the American Music Awards and Video Music Awards, the statuettes that are handed out don’t quite matter here. Example: British powerhouse Adele collected 12 of the 46 statues handed out and didn't even show up, making the telecast largely a performance spectacle (seriously, producers could easily have chopped an hour out of this show).

PHOTOS: Red carpet at the Billboard Music Awards

A few, er, observations from the evening: