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The jury is still out on whether the WTF-tastic cover art Lady Gaga revealed for her Born This Way album over the weekend is meant as some cosmic joke or if the Pen and Pixel-worthy PhotoShop job is another stroke of Gaga viral buzz genius.

One thing is for sure, the low-rent image of Gaga as the blonde handlebars and front fork of a motorcycle is as bizarre a choice for the most-anticipated album from a major pop star in recent memory. Worse even, believe it or not, than the obvious and cheesy sunset on the cover of Kings of Leons' Come Around Sundown.

But what it lacks in grace, Gaga's woman/machine meld makes up in talker-quotient. And, as she likely anticipated, like her songs and videos, it has already spawned a legion of parodies and sequels. Gawker collected some of the early favorites, including Britney Spears on the front of a Vespa scooter (Femme Vespatale), Jessica Black (Born on Friday), Christina Aguilera melded with an old-fashioned bicycle (Bike to Basics), a just-mean Jessica Simpson on the front of the Weinermobile, Katy Perry on a floating plastic bag, Celine Dion on the stern of the Titanic, Usher riding a tricycle with Justin Bieber's head up front and Madonna's beat-up looking visage in a golden wheelchair.

Other parodies have popped up elsewhere, placing Beyonce on a Dereon-outfitted pink tank, Perry on a ten-speed bicycle, Aguilera over a plane's cockpit, Rihanna on the cab of an 18-wheeler, Willow Smith rocking a Big Wheel and Lil Kim on the front of a burning SUV.

Some went the straight route, taking the mouth-agape image of Gaga on the album and plopping it into other scenarios, from a truck cab, to a tractor, as well as plopping Aguilera on a Segway, and clumsily taping Avril Lavigne to a skateboard.

Tags Born This Way, Lady Gaga, Viral

By Adam Stewart

Today, the annually epic and newly relocated Electric Daisy Carnival announced its headliners for the now-three-day affair — scheduled for June 24-26. This year's mega-fest, which had in the past been held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, will journey across the desert and into the heart of Sin City, where it will be held for the first time at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Headlining on Friday, June 24, will be Tiësto, who recently blew away the crowd at Miami's Ultra Music Festival. His latest smash hit, "Beautiful World" — a collaboration with Mark Knight featuring Dino — earned fan-favorite honors in MTV News' Top Track of Miami poll, and his latest album, Club Life, Volume One: Las Vegas, currently sits at #3 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums charts.

On Saturday, June 25, the spotlight will shift to crossover mega-producer and DJ David Guetta, whose past collaborations with the Black Eyed Peas, will.i.am, Rihanna and Akon have made him one of the key figures in dance music sweeping the States. Anyone who has seen a live Guetta set at a festival knows that the guest performances and overall energy his show brings to the crowd is nothing short of epic.

Finally, on Sunday, June 26, the Electric Daisy Carnival stage will again be graced by the Swedish House Mafia. Coming off a triumphant week in Miami, where they spearheaded their own standalone mini-festival, "Masquerade Motel: One Night Stand", the Swedes return to the EDC scene amidst a storm of praise as the rock stars of dance music. On the heels of their soon-to-be-released and surefire-hit single, "Save the World" (featuring John Martin), Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso are poised to raise the desert heat to a whole new level.

Tickets for the flagship Las Vegas EDC event go on sale this Saturday at 3 p.m. ET. The touring festival also will make several other stops along the way: Orlando, Florida (May 27 and 28); Denver (June 11); Dallas (June 18); and Puerto Rico (August 27).

Plan on hitting up EDC as it makes its first trip to Las Vegas? Let us know in the comments below!

Tags David Guetta, Electric Daisy Carnival, Swedish House Mafia, Tiesto

By Zachary Swickey
Last year, the music world was buzzing with rumors that Rage Against the Machine were working on a new album when a Chilean newspaper, La Tercera, reported just that based off an interview with frontman Zack de la Rocha. Of course, by now, most fans have assumed that this was not the case, or simply an inaccurate translation (the interview was in Spanish), especially since there's been no further confirmation from the band or even activity being reported. Perhaps they're too busy putting the finishing touches on a new masterpiece of sounds that people will swear aren’t coming from a guitar?

Perhaps indeed. Because, while it’s not the announcement of a new album, a posting on Coachella’s official Facebook page has given fans a new reason to hope: “SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, July 30 in Los Angeles: Rage Against the Machine, Muse, Rise Against, & More. Stay tuned for details.”

If Rage does have a new album under their belt, what better place to debut it than their hometown of Los Angeles? For the few years since they’ve reunited — at least on the stage — Rage have been shooting down rumors of new music, opting instead to only play select live shows. With the exception of an off-date benefit concert last year, the L.A. gig will be Rage’s first performance in the US since 2008 (and, given that they're sharing the stage with Muse — whose last album was called The Resistance — and Rise Against — who are no slouches when it comes to politics either — they'll be in good company.)

Of course, it could just be another RATM show ... an email to a spokesperson for Coachella seeking comment was not responded to by press time. Still, at this point, we're ready. No matter what Rage have in store for us later this summer.

Tags Rage-Against-The-Machine, zack de la rocha

By Alex Chapman

If you were at California's Coachella Music Festival on Sunday night (or patrolling the Internets for its live feed), then you were likely a witness to one of Kanye West's best live gigs yet. Rocking an uber-cool patterned shirt and a boatload of energy, an emotional West blazed through a bevy of hits solo, with only indie collaborator Justin Vernon and Clipse's Pusha T joining him on their respective features from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

But West wasn't completely alone — the game-changing artist was backed by a superfluity of female dancers and a talented team of musicians, including Chicago-born DJ/producer Million Dollar Mano.

"The experience was one-of-a-kind, true production," Mano, who worked with West on Dark Twisted Fantasy, told MTV News on Monday morning. "We just did Lollapalooza in Chile last week, and that was huge. I thought Coachella was going to be just as critical, but it was 10 times more of an awesome production than I was expecting."

Despite his cool, calm demeanor during the show, Mano, who's known Kanye for years, certainly felt the pressure to perform. "He said that this would be his biggest show yet. I wanted to make sure I did my best for him so he could look back at this years from now and be proud of the show 150 percent."

Were you at Coachella this year? Share your own concert reports in the comments!

Tags Coachella, Kanye West, Million Dollar Mano

By James Dinh

It isn't uncommon for pop stars to pay homage to themselves in the most nostalgic way possible (see Britney Spears' "Till the World Ends" music video). And with the release of Lady Gaga's highly anticipated second single, "Judas," from her forthcoming album, we here at MTV News couldn't help but be reminded of another song that sounds more or less similar to the recently dropped track.

From both of the songs' structures to their lyrical repetition, "Judas" draws on heavy elements from Mother Monster's 2009 smash "Bad Romance." Both songs, which were produced by hit-maker RedOne, start off on common ground with comparable lyrical introductions, combining a series of oh's, song-title call-outs and signature Gaga name-drops. As with many of her dance tunes, "Judas" carries a steady, head-bopping beat throughout the verses until comes an even bigger and more sing-along-friendly chorus à la "Bad Romance."

Similarities between the dance tunes don't stop there as Gaga appears to have the same love troubles as she did just a couple of years ago. During both songs, the pop star sings the tale of a woman drawn and captured by the affection of her ill-fated lover. ("Judas" — "Forgive him when his tongue lies through his brain/ Even after three times, he betrays me" vs. "Bad Romance" — "I want your ugly/ I want your disease/ I want your everything/ As long as it's free/ I want your love.")

While Lady Gaga is no stranger to having her songs pitted against hits of past (Yes, I'm looking at you, "Born This Way"), "Judas" is sure to set the dance floor on fire even if it may sound like the long-lost cousin of "Bad Romance."

Do you see the similarities? Let us know in the comments!

Tags Judas, Lady Gaga

By Alex Chapman

By now, you've probably heard about or seen Life + Times, Jay-Z's super-fresh lifestyle blog. The new site basically functions as a Hova-run online magazine — interviews with the coolest of the cool, musings about super-sweet swag and, most importantly, some Jigga-approved MP3s.

But exactly how on-point are SC's cyber selections? We took a closer look at some of Life + Times' choice tracks to see if Jay can keep up with the digital Joneses. (Spoiler: We like what we found!)

1. "Go," Santigold (featuring Karen O)
Not only was Jay smart enough to premiere Santi's return to form (featuring the sexy squeals of Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen Oh) on his new blog, he also had the sense to sign the brilliant Brooklynite to Roc Nation. How many basement-ridden bloggers can say they've done that?
Cool factor: 5/5

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Tags Jay-Z

So much for talent and personality winning the day. "American Idol" viewers just never seemed to cotton to Paul McDonald. Though the Nashville native has the kind of rasp that is selling tons of records for Mumford & Sons and plenty of tickets for Ray LaMontagne, not to mention a 1,000 watt smile, sharp dress sense and a goofy, but polished stage presence, the good guy singer was sent packing on Thursday night's elimination show.

Yes, I'm mad that I was alone among our experts in not calling his demise, but maybe I was just in denial. I mean, let's review here: Paul, who could record an album today that would likely outsell last year's "winner" Lee DeWyze in a minute, is out. That means we're left with simpering Stefano Langone, cornpone Scotty McCreery, unmarketable Jacob Lusk and straight metal Adam Lambert (a.k.a. James Durbin). Oh, and "sexy" scatter Casey Abrams. Really America?
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Tags American Idol, Paul McDonald, Stefano Langone

All this week, we've been sharing parts of our preview of the Experience Music Project special exhibit "Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses," which opens at the Seattle museum on Saturday (April 16). Today's artifacts are the controversial Nevermind cover art and some of the iconic objects from the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video. The commentary is provided by exhibit curator Jacob McMurray.

Nevermind Cover Art:
"The Nirvana exhibit is full of funny moments, and I think that that's really important because I think a lot of the story has been leeched of the humor. This is one piece of humor that didn't originate from the band but from DGC's art director, Robert Fisher. This is when he's sending the band a comp of what the Nevermind album could look like. He notes on there, 'If anyone has a problem with his d---, we can remove it.' Which I'm sure the band found just as hilarious as I do. ... The guitar [displayed next to it] is called colloquially the 'vandalism' Strat. Kurt played it a lot during 1991, and it was most famously at the 1991 Reading Festival. It's caused a lot of controversy because it has a sticker on it from this punk band called the Feeders that says 'Vandalism: beautiful as a rock in a cop's face.' Kurt Cobain definitely had a lot of run-ins with the police, and I don't think he had very good experiences with that, so I think that was a message that definitely spoke to him."
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Tags Nevermind, Nirvana, seattle, Smells Like Teen Spirit

Over the next few days, MTV's Newsroom will be featuring items from the upcoming Experience Music Project special exhibit, "Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses," which opens at the Seattle museum on Saturday (April 16). Today's artifacts include the story behind the band's legendary first contract with Sub Pop records and the tale of in-studio thrashing of a guitar by Kurt Cobain during the sessions for the group's breakthrough Nevermind album. The commentary on these objects are provided by exhibit curator Jacob McMurray.

First Nirvana Contract
"This unassuming object is the first contract that Sub Pop and Nirvana ever actually signed. Nirvana at the time was not feeling like Sub Pop was giving them the love, Sub Pop was going through some financial difficulties, so they both agreed on signing a contract. This was actually signed a week before the Bleach album was released.

Check out photos of Kurt Cobain's art, broken guitars and more on exhibit.

"Legacy-wise what's kind of amazing about it is that when Nirvana signed to DGC [a Geffen Records imprint], DGC had to buy Nirvana out of this contract and so Sub Pop received a lump sum of $75,000 in cash, but more importantly, two percentage points on the next two Nirvana albums, which were of course Nevermind and Incesticide. The contract is actually backdated to January 1, but because it was signed on June 3 it says on here 'for the initial one-year term the label agrees to provide the artist with a $600 advance for the first record,' the second record is $12,000 and the third record is $24,000. The $600 purposely picked because Bleach cost $600 and change to make."
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Tags Experience Music Project, Nirvana, seattle

By Jett Wells

We love pop stars not only because they're beautiful, super talented, drama follows their every step and they wear great clothes, but also because they just say the darndest things.

And few stars are more delicious quote machines than Lady Gaga. In a cover-story interview with Harper's Bazaar, the pop queen made an eye-popping drug analogy about her lead single, saying, " 'Born This Way' is marijuana to the heroin of the album." Whatever that means, it cranks up the already-intergalactic hype for the next Gaga chapter in May, and it easily fits into her list of best (or most controversial) quotes. Here are some of our faves:

"I say Rebecca Black is a genius and that anybody telling her she's cheesy is full of sh--." — Google, March 2011

Of course we're not passing judgment on Rebecca Black, the new YouTube sensation with the megahit "Friday," but even this one came out of left field for Gaga. Black's "Friday," although popular, is a divisive song garnering warm support or vicious hatred. Call it what you want, but Black is no Gaga, so it's high praise that the pop queen stood in her corner.

"You know, sense memory is a powerful thing. I can give myself an orgasm just by thinking about it." — New York Magazine, March 2009

That's the stuff, Gaga. We're sure millions of women are dying to know your dirty little secret.

"Some women choose to follow men, and some women choose to follow their dreams. If you're wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn't love you anymore." — Cosmopolitan, April 2010

You're paying for dinner next time, Gaga.
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Tags Lady Gaga