In making their Featured Artist spots for MTV, the bad boys of All Time Low are up to some vintage pop-punk mischief. Sure, the melodic Maryland rockers play three songs from their brand-new album, Nothing Personal, too. But in the 7+ minute segment below, they go off the grid.

A newscaster reports from outside of a compound where five cute college co-eds are holding the boys hostage. Apparently the captors have gotten their hands on the master recordings of Nothing Personal and will destroy All Time Low's hard work if they try to escape.

For a look at what it's like to be imprisoned by a gang of cute superfans, hit play below. (Really, what would you do with All Time Low if you held them hostage???)

While you're at it, catch the band playing Nothing Personal (due July 7) stand-outs, "Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don't)," "Weightless" and "Lost In Stereo," live! Instead of waiting around for a bunch of brilliant directors to translate their work into unforgettable music videos (which will no doubt happen in good time), All Time Low go down to the beach and play three of their favorite Nothing Personal tracks at sunset. Straightforward, no fooling around. Just the new jams at full energy. A perfect introduction to the new album that's about to take over our summer!

Watch All Time Low's "Kidnapped" skit below, with balls-out performances interspersed!

Though many call it "The Country Music Capital Of The World," Nashville has a whole lot more to offer than 10-gallon hats and Ford pick-ups. Not that there's anything wrong with Ford...

As evidenced by this week's MTV Featured Artist, Kings Of Leon, a Nashville band can wear pearl snaps down the fronts of their shirts and bump the Grand Ole Opry in their F-150s and still rock the Levi's off of any big-city rock radio station.

This video playlist is a big-up to bands like Raconteurs, Paramore and Be Your Own Pet, who embrace Nashville's musical heritage without letting it define them. Watch a set of new videos from the best of the new Nashville scene, and see if you can smell the country on 'em!

+ Watch Kings Of Leon's Exclusive Featured Artist Clips!

+ Watch Kings Of Leon At The 2009 MTV Movie Awards

+ Tennessee Studliness Abounds on $5 Cover

I won't bog you down with too much intro here because I know you'll wanna get busy watching this Eminem mini-movie just as fast as you can. In it, the MTV Featured Artist answers some of your most burning questions by letting us in on what he's been up to for the past four years.

I'm not gonna spoil the surprise. Hit play and and relive Eminem's hiatus, with all the boring parts cut out (well, unless you consider arguing about the bathroom rituals of superheroes boring). Enjoy "Eminem, Where Have You Been."

+ Catch Eminem performing live at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, May 31!

+ See more Eminem MTV Featured Artist clips here!

Ciara fans, prepare to flip your s---. We all know our girl can act and sing, but believe me, you have never seen her like this before. To mark her run as MTV's Featured Artist, Ciara filmed a set of exclusive videos, in which she plays three vastly different characters.

In the first set, Ciara plays herself at her most beautiful, oozing sex appeal on slowed-down versions of "Never Ever" and "Like A Surgeon." Both singles appear on her newly released full-length, Fantasy Ride.

In the second set of videos, Ciara is a scantily-clad superhero, not unlike the one who appears on her new album cover. As Super C, she shoots laser beams out of... unexpected areas, wreaking havoc everywhere she goes.

Ciara's most outlandish character is called Miss Jackie. An overweight movie theater janitor with a missing tooth, Miss Jackie makes cleaning up after slobs look like the best job on the planet.

See all of this insanity when you watch Ciara's MTV Featured Artist videos below!

+ See Ciara's accompanying knock-out photo session here.

To help you wile away the hours until Barack Obama takes office (so soon!), we bring you two of many artists who have stuck their necks out in recent times in hopes of making some radical change: John Legend and will.i.am. Remember "Yes We Can," their Barack support video from a few months back? Remember when they performed it live at the Democratic National Convention?! Of course you do. It was major news and is ultimately one of the many public outcries that helped the distinguished Senator from Illinois become President Obama.

But that wasn't, by a long shot, the first time will.i.am met John Legend. Their careers have been interlaced from the beginning! Legend did guest vocals on Black Eyed Peas song "Like That," and will.i.am has produced several Legend tracks over the years. Now they come together again with MTV to help us ring in what is already a major slice of history. Keep an eye out across the next two weeks for a host of MTV-exclusive will.i.am / John Legend video insanity. Much more after the jump!

+ Exclusive will.i.am photo flipbook

From a Grace Jones-soundalike on horseback, to "A Punk" prepsters, Talkboxing two-steppers, and an all-American pop-rock band with a penchant for holding grudges -- that's Santogold, Vampire Weekend, Chromeo, and OneRepublic, for the uninitiated -- we're taking a look back at the MTV Artists of the Week who've become the breakout artists of 2008.

+ Vampire Weekend: The Columbia U. prepsters made libraries, chinos, and Paul Simon cool again! Fittingly, their Artist of the Week videos were shot at Columbia and inspired you to look up the meaning of "kwasa kwasa." Watch Vampire Weekend's Artist of the Week videos here.

+ Santgold: The electro-pop shapeshifter graduated from A&R chick to the reason all those record industry types and music bloggers were tapping away furiously on their BlackBerrys. Less afraid of Spandex than M.I.A., Santogold took a head-on approach to her Artist of the Week videos, getting behind the wheel of some old-school bumper cars in Coney Island. Watch Santogold's MTV Artist of the Week videos here.

+ Chromeo: Forget the Naked Cowboy. Dave 1 and P-Thugg totally ruled Times Square, pumping their thinking man's sexy-chromatic hits through the heart of NYC from atop a Big Red Bus. That's one small step for keytars, one giant leap for Arab/Jewish relations. Watch Chromeo's "Fancy Footwork" and "Momma's Boy" videos.

+ OneRepublic: The Colorado fivesome, known for their mega hits "Apologize," and "Stop and Stare," got the royal treatment in their Artist of the Week videos, jousting Cable Guy-style at Medieval Times. By the way, this past September, "Apologize" became the #1 most (legally) downloaded song ever. Who's sorry now? Read an exclusive interview with the band, and watch OneRepublic's MTV Artist of the Week videos here.

Photos by Lindsay Nowak & Eric Thundercloud

Vote MURS! Do the right thing! MURS for President! Choose or Lose!

Nahlook: MURS may not have much for qualifications (isn't that a plus these days?) -- by his own admission he has, and we quote, "No college education or experience." But don't count the hip-hop Oval Office hopeful out yet! He's got an opinion, he's nice on the mic and he's one of the Cali underground's foremost MCs. Also, his hair looks exactly like that hat made famous by Abraham Lincoln, and how could that possibly be bad??

But enough hype, brothers and sisters. Let's get up on MURS' platform, shall we? Take it Mr. MURS:

Look here! The power of America is the freedom of choice! We choose to do nothing! We losing! We suffering! It's time to do something that's not Socialism, that's not Communism. It's lovin' each other, realize there's no different! It's positive movement. Gradual improvement!

Yes, yes! Well said Mr. MURS! But tell us... This "gradual improvement" you speak of ... Improvement from what? In your mind what troubles face our great nation today?

The world's gone crazy since we last spoke. Bloodshed and wars, the absence of hope. Not to mention, shootin' at the school, economy's a joke. Homies on heroin! Homies on coke! But can you even blame them when they only tryna cope? NO! DAMN!

MURS, it's all true. Isn't it just terrible? What about your opponents? Do they stand a chance?

All these rappers wanna talk about is guns and dope. Don't they realize we all at the end of our ropes?? The future all depends on the power of our quotes! The power of a pen! The power of a vote!

Sir, you've taken our breath away. That's all we have time for today. Good luck Mr. MURS! Stay tuned for an important message from the Murs campaign ...

MURS For President drops September 30 and you must not sleep! MURS is an L.A. native whose name is an acronym for "Making Underground Raw S***!" You may remember MURS from such sensational underground hip-hop acts as 3MG! Living Legends! Felt! and The Invincibles! He has collaborated with the likes of Humpty Hump, Slug, Aesop Rock, RJD2, Hieroglypics, E-40, Little Brother and many more!

If you're new and curious about what his music sounds like, here's an adjective: GREAT. Basically slap a jaw-dropper of a beat on some fly Jackson 5 style soul loops and just let the eyebrow-raising rhymes flow. It's explosive like Gushers®. And if it takes more than that to get your vote, you're stingy! But it's cool, because we got even more to give! How about exclusive MTV Artist Of The Week videos, direct from the candidate, the man, MURS?? That's right, watch them on MTV and below and check out photos from his MTV shoot, also below (and here) and, along with a lot more, on his MTV.com artist page.

The great thing about the videos MURS shot for MTV is that he's is pulling no punches. He knows it's Choose or Lose time when it comes to the upcoming U.S. presidential election. He's in South Central L.A., talking to his mom at the family's long-standing business. And they're talking about politics and the importance of voting. It's not something MURS takes lightly and it's not something you should take lightly. If you do, you risk facing the wrath of his mom. He warned you.

And, not to belabor a point, but get out and vote!

What could we possibly tell you about the Jonas Brothers that you don't already know? It was only a couple of weeks ago that we took you along for the ride as we embedded ourselves deep within the Jonas juggernaut as they took over New York City. We were there with them when they woke up. We walked on their stage and behind every possible scene with them. And we asked them your probing questions.

But, because you're insatiable, we're giving you more. We sat down with the Jonas Brothers again (OMJ!) before a recent show at the PNC Bank Arts Center in New Jersey to discuss the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards (like, who do they want to run into at the VMAs? Are they nervous to perform?), making music videos, touring and the importance of mega-fans like you. And, like the non-stop pros they are, they just kept giving. And giving... And giving.

All this week, you'll be seeing the hysteria-inducing faces of Joe, Nick and Kevin all over MTV as we count down to their big night at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. They're up for Video of the Year and Best Pop Video Moonman trophies. And, like we said, they're performing live. Of course you're already convinced that they're the greatest thing since Instant Messenger. But will Sunday, September 7 be the night they convince the rest of the world that Jonas completely rule?

Here's a few of the interview clips we shot with the Jo Bros in New Jersey. Watch 'em and you'll get their innermost thoughts on the VMAs, their love for their fans and oh so much more.

Also, while you're here, check out their live performances of "Burnin' Up" and "S.O.S" from FNMTV. And, of course, spill that OJD.

Every so often there comes along an artist who is everywhere. Omnipresent. Pervasive. Ubiquitous. A year ago, it was Rihanna. Right now, that artist is Katy Perry.

Her hit single "I Kissed a Girl," with its bi-curious lyrics and impossibly hummable hook, has put Katy on the lips (no pun intended) of, well, just about everybody. The song, lifted from her debut pop album One of the Boys, has reached #1 in the United States on The Billboard Hot 100, and top charts in Canada, the U.K. and elsewhere. People just LOVE this song.

But there are people who hate it, too. There are those who think the lyrics are an affront to her Christian upbringing, since she's the daughter of two pastors and began her recording career as a Christian artist. There are those who find the lyrics homophobic (along with those of her song, "Ur So Gay"). And there are those who don't think it was a song that should have gotten her pop-song-singing-butt placed on a prominent stage on this summer's Warped Tour.

Not that she cares. Why? Because the 23-year-old, guitar-slingin', Travis McCoy-datin', pop star is the "it" girl of the moment.

She's confident, funny, sassy, and damn, if she's not talented, too. Her performance of "I Kissed a Girl" brought down the house on FNMTV a few weeks back. And on that aforementioned Warped Tour, she's been turning young punks into pop converts all summer long.

As of late, she's back in her element, touring the country on the mtvU Video Music Awards Tour with Boys Like Girls, All Time Low and Metro Station. And that makes sense, too, because Katy is nominated for two 2008 MTV Video Music Awards! "I Kissed a Girl" vaulted her into the Best Female Video category amidst clips from the likes of Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Britney Spears and Jordin Sparks.

The video also scored Katy Perry a Best New Artist nomination, where she's competing against Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Jordin Sparks and Tokio Hotel. You like her, right? Well if you do, you should totally cast a vote for her, because fans are deciding who takes this Moonman home. You can vote on MTV.com's Best New Artist voting page. You can also cast 10 votes every time you play the Moonman Entourage game on MTV.com.

Anyway, it was just a few days ago out on the mtvU Video Music Awards Tour that we caught up with Katy to chat about all things Katy Perry. You'll be seeing the fruits of that on-stage conversation all over MTV for the next week. You can also watch the spots on MTV.com.

Check out a photos from the shoot, watch the "I Kissed a Girl" video below, along with that FNMTV live performance. Plus, watch those on-air promos here, too. And check out Katy's MTV.com artist page for a round up of just about everything we've got on KP.

Oh, and remember what we said about her being funny? If you haven't been following along, you've missed a helluva set of Katy Perry tour diaries that she did for Buzzworthy. The most recent one has her rockin' a lady 'stache, while this one had her sharing her tips for coping as the only girl on the road, while another one shows off her boobs.

Anyway. Less us. More Katy.

+ Watch all of Katy Perry's Artist of the Week videos here.

NEWS FLASH! Our esteemed artist of the week is a confirmed performer for the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 7 in Hollywood! Don't miss it! Now, back to our regularly scheduled post ...

If there was the slightest possibility that you hadn't already heard of Kid Rock, it would make sense to go on and on about the 23 million+ albums he's sold ... About how he's filled in for frontmen in bands as diverse as Metallica, Phish and Lynyrd Skynyrd ... About how he launched the career of Uncle Kracker one day and immortalized Aerosmith's with a performance of "Sweet Emotion" at the Rock 'N Roll Hall Of Fame another ... But Kid Rock pretty much took care of that whole issue of "the public eye" when he married Pamela Anderson, showed up in David Spade's Joe Dirt and released an album called Rock N Roll Jesus, now didn't he? Let's just say that the guy lives up to the title of his 2001 release, Cocky.

And why shouldn't he? After all, how many careers have you heard of that start in a Romeo, Michigan, shopping mall at age 11 (back when Kid was known as Robert James Ritchie) and end at the top of the world (not to mention the pop charts)? Not that many, right? No. And how many artists have you seen transition so smoothly between greasy trailer kid to rap-metal breakout, between country crossover phenomenon and classic rock revivalist, between "Early Morning Stoned Pimp" and "Rock N Roll Jesus?" Again, not a single one.

Take a step back and really look at Kid Rock. He's collaborated with Lil Jon, The Allman Brothers, Run DMC and Sheryl Crow. He's appeared on the Vans Warped Tour, on the cover of Rolling Stone (twice!), in court for punching a strip club DJ and on Larry King Live. See? Kid Rock has done absolutely EVERYTHING, and he's just getting started.

With all that under his belt, can you even imagine what this cocky rock'n'roll Jesus has in store for MTV.com's Artist Of The Week? You know, it's hard not to brag, but for once, let's just leave this one up in the air ... Because no matter how well prepared you are when the exclusive Kid Rock AOTW videos hit the net, you are gonna go absolutely bawitdaba bonkers! BRACE YOURSELVES! HERE COMES THE ROCK!

Check out this photo flipbook and get psyched for a week with Kid Rock!

WATCH ALL KID ROCK VIDEOS!