Lady Gaga's fall tour (which is decidedly free of Kanye West) has been officially announced, and it's called "The Monster Ball." She'll begin the 22-date trek in Montreal on November 27 and stay on the road until she closes up shop with two shows at Radio City Music Hall (a stage she knows pretty well) on January 20 and 21, 2010. Her show, which she describes as a "pop-electro opera," will highlight songs from her debut album The Fame and its expanded edition The Fame Monster, which contains eight new songs (including the just-released single "Bad Romance").

Gaga also raised the curtain on the official poster for the tour via her Twitter feed. Like anything related to the 23-year-old postmodern diva, it's decidedly fashion-forward, theatrical and totally bizarre. Dressed in a black bikini bottom and a silver top that looks like a warrior's chest plate, Gaga is surrounded by an apparatus that looks a lot like a gyroscope (and, on further inspection, is actually connected to the top). She's surrounded by drunk, shirtless revelers, but she appears remote and squeaky clean as though she just arrived from another planet where all the women have immaculate, wind-swept hair. It's a pretty striking image, and certainly another definitive piece of Gaga-related art. Follow the jump for the full-size image of the poster.
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The MTV Video Music Awards are just a few short days away, and though there is all sorts of buzz surrounding the performances, the parties and the New York-centric stunts that will be happening all this week into Sunday's broadcast, it's important to remember that the reason the biggest stars in music will gather in Radio City Music Hall is to see who wins the coveted Moonman in each of the 15 categories. Today, we conclude our look at each of the top categories with a look at the Best New Artist award. The nominees are 3OH!3's "Don't Trust Me," Asher Roth's "I Love College," Drake's "Best I Ever Had," Kid Cudi's "Day n' Night" and Lady Gaga's "Poker Face." In this category, the winner is entirely determined by fan voting, and you can continue to vote for your favorite until the moment the presenter walks onstage to read the names.

Each of the Best New Artist nominees has something working in their favor. Lady Gaga is the biggest commercial success by far, and her unusual fashion sense and penchant for theatrics has made her an instantly-recognizable icon. But that doesn't mean she's necessarily running away with it. After all, last year's Best New Artist, Tokio Hotel, beat out a handful of sales juggernauts like Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift. Asher Roth's "I Love College" was huge among actual college students, who are more likely to rally around their computers and cast votes. (Roth seems pretty nonchalant about the awards, though.) Drake and Kid Cudi both have incredible buzz surrounding them and have been immediately embraced by the hip-hop community. (Need proof? They're both on The Blueprint 3.) And 3OH!3 have gone out of their way to campaign for votes, with a push so intense that they managed to make 3OH!3 a trending topic on Twitter.

Who will walk away with Best New Artist? It seems like 3OH!3 want it the most, though it may be impossible to defeat Lady Gaga (who could easily take a series of Moonmen in a landslide tonight). It could be a big coup for whoever the winner is, as many Best New Artists (Alicia Keys, 50 Cent, Maroon 5, the Killers, Eminem and Nirvana among them) have gone on to become superstars and VMA regulars.

Kid Cudi has been working on his album for quite some time, and it's had plenty of release dates and production delays. But it looks like his premiere solo LP could actually be on its way, as Kanye West unleashed Cudi's album art on his blog yesterday.

The album, which is called Man on the Moon: The End of Day, features production by West and Just Blaze and guest spots from the likes of Common, Snoop Dogg, Clipse and MGMT. Cudi has kept himself busy touring with Asher Roth on the Hangover Tour and getting nominated for a Video Music Award for his excellent cartoon-assisted clip "Day N' Nite."

With Jay-Z going a little artier for the cover of his upcoming album The Blueprint 3 and Cudi and Kanye clearly possessing an interest in interesting visuals, could we be entering the golden age of hip-hop album art? The old model for covers for rap records relied on menacing photos of the artist. But in the past year, more and more rappers are expanding their visual horizons: Kanye's 808s & Heartbreak, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, T.I.'s Paper Trail and the Roots' Rising Down all dipped their toes in interesting artistic ideas. But Cudi has definitely thrown the gauntlet down for any other MC looking to keep his album cover interesting.

by Steven Roberts

CHICAGO -- It's day 2 at Lollapalooza 2009, and despite the rain yesterday, the Chicago festival kicked off in style thanks to performances by Depeche Mode, Kings of Leon, Bon Iver and Crystal Castles. Today, the sun is out in full effect, so we decided to catch up with a few fans around Grant Park and ask what some of their favorite sets were from Friday. Not surprisingly for a festival that has everyone from Tool to Bon Iver on the bill, the answers were all over the place.

Speaking of Tool, a bunch of that dark rock band's fans were filing into the park as the gates opened, and they were dead-set on reserving their spot for tonight's headlining performance. Many of them were also fans of Depeche Mode, and they had rave reviews about that classic English synth pop band's headlining performance Friday night.

The Walkers traveled all the way from Vancouver, Canada, and they were happy they saw Depeche Mode perform. "Their new song 'Wrong' is just awesome," said John. His companion, Larissa added, "that was meant to be live."

The Kings of Leon co-headlined on the opposite end of the park, and there were just as many fans still buzzing about their performance. "It was really fun, everyone was singing along, dancing and it was a good time," said Danielle, who traveled with friends and family in a 13-hour car ride from New Jersey.

And finally there were the fans that watched Kid Cudi close the show at Perry's dance zone. Perry's is an area set up where DJ's can spin, essentially creating an all-day rave in the middle of the festival grounds. Grant and Nathan, both 16, said that they spent all 12 hours of their day there, and Kid Cudi capped off their amazing day. Nathan was still blown away - or on something, it was hard to tell.

"It was crazy, yo. He was unbelievable live," he said.

The 2009 Video Music Awards nominations are out, and though much of the attention is on Best Video, one of the most intriguing categories is the race for Best New Artist. It pits Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" against 3OH!3 ("Don't Trust Me") and three top-shelf MCs: Drake ("Best I Ever Had"), Kid Cudi ("Day 'N' Nite") and Asher Roth ("I Love College").

The nominations are lead by two artists who appeared in a rather prescient feature MTV News' Stephen Roberts produced at the beginning of the year, announcing the five "MCs to Watch in 2009." ">Kid Cudi was on that list, and his nomination for his signature hit "Day 'N' Nite" — one of the best hip-hop jams of the year so far— proves that Roberts' prediction was deadly accurate.

In addition to producing the super-cool video for "Day 'N' Night," Cudi has spent the year prepping his debut album and touring with Asher Roth, another Best New Artist nominee and MC to watch. Read more...

It was another crazy week here in the Newsroom, what with all the hanging with Asher Roth and playing softball with the Jonas Brothers, so just in case some things slipped through the cracks, here's the rundown of what you might have missed. It's this week's Deep Cuts.

» It's easy to forget that Lil Wayne has actually been in the game for over a decade, and this gallery charting his evolution is a great reminder that he used to be a fresh-faced kid before he was a worldwide superstar.

» Plenty of debates this week, like which songs from the first half of the year were our favorites and what former Panic! at the Disco guitarist Ryan Ross should name his new band.

» The march to this year's MTV Video Music Awards is underway. On September 13, host Russell Brand will try to top his performance from last year.

» You know what else we learned this week? That Michael Jackson was a huge fan of "30 Rock" (at least according to Tracy Morgan).

» Finally, just remember that if Newsroom has taught you nothing else this week, it's that a name change doesn't necessarily mean disaster.

Backstage at the Great Hangover Tour here in New York City was like two different worlds brought together care of Asher Roth and Kid Cudi.

My MTVNews producer Steven and I arrived early to grab the only interview with the two young MCs side-by-side an hour before they performed in front of a sold-out crowd at the Nokia Theatre in Times Square. As we walked backstage, it was a lot more mellow that what you might expect from a tour with the title the Great Hangover — a name conjured up by one Mr. Kanye West.

As I walked into his dressing room, Cudi was holding court surrounded by a crew of people. I didn't hear what he was saying but he had everyone's attention. Then mid-sentence he saw us and immediately came over to make us feel welcome. I think his opening words were actually "Yo Tim, you want a shot?" Read more...

Welcome to the weekly Newsroom Poll, where we will give you a sneak peek into the lives and minds of some of the correspondents, writers, editors and producers here at MTVNews.com. Every week, they'll answer a poll question that will reveal some of what we talk about behind the scenes here in the newsroom. Enjoy!

Nothing gets us excited like a good list, so when MTV News' James Montgomery made a list of the best albums of 2009 so far, it sparked a ton of debate amongst the staffers here. We also had long talks about whether or not Drake's mixtape really is the greatest we've heard so far this year. All this back-and-forth led to this week's question: What's the best song of the first half of 2009?

Joel Hanek
Even though the mixtape this song debuted on Kanye's blog last summer, I'll have to go with Kid Cudi's "Day N' Nite." Sure, I may be biased because he's a fellow Clevelander, but that song has a long shelf life (probably due to the countless remixes that are put out). Everything he does is catchy, from Kid Cudi's style (which is something that straddles singing and melodic rapping) to the track itself (from the major scale synths to sampling bands like RATATAT and Band of Horses). I don't think a song without a proper album has been this successful since Lisa Loeb's "Stay." (Lisa Loeb / Kid Cudi comparison = Success!)
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When Asher Roth and Kid Cudi first told me that they were going on the road together, I knew that was a night I wasn't going to miss.

Last night, the Great Hangover Tour came to town and the two gifted MCs took to the stage in front of a sold out Nokia Theatre and handled business like OG rappers well beyond their years.

Both Asher and Cudi have very distinct personalities, so I was curious to see how this would translate to the stage. It works! It was Asher's turn to hit the stage first (the pair rotate each time). Don't let the messy haircut fool you: With his laid back swagger and funny personality both on-stage and off, its easy sometimes to forget just how talented of an MC Asher Roth actually is. Funkmaster Flex told me backstage that out of every MC in the game who has stopped by his radio show and dropped a freestyle, Roth is the one who freestyled the longest and didn't slip up once.

The kid's got hits and the crowd knew them all. From the crowd-pleasing "Be By Myself" to one of my personal favourites "Lark On My Go Kart," Asher put as much energy into each and every song as I had seen him do many months ago when playing in front of family and friends in his hometown of Westchester. I don't know if its a God-given gift or something he strives hard to achieve, but he hits every word with perfect flow and delivery even in his hardest verses. Even my friends who came with me — DJ Reach and DJ Jus Ske, both hip-hop aficionados — gave major props when he delivered the complex verse in "Lark On My Go-Kart." After getting pitch-perfect deliveries of "Blunt Cruise," "La Di Da," "She Don't Want A Man" (the next single, and Keri Hilson if you're reading this, you have got to do the video) and of course the anthem "I Love College" (which I still catch myself singing the hook each and every time, mo matter how often I hear it), people could have gone home satisfied that they got more than their money's worth after just his performance.

But just when you thought it was safe, the artistic Cudi took centre stage. Read more...

By Steven Roberts

Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music label runs the gamut from well-known MCs like Common to lesser-known artists like Consequence, Big Sean and GLC. Now, Kid Cudi is emerging in the mainstream — with his hit song "Day 'N' Nite" and appearances at mtvU Spring Break and South by Southwest — and it looks like the future of Kanye's label is in good hands.

"My job is to make not only myself look good, but to make 'Ye look good," Cudi said. "I tell him all the time: 'Don't worry, I got you. I'm going to make you look better than what you look right now.' "

The Ohio MC said he and West are building toward the future. "He's like my Quincy Jones, and I'm the Michael Jackson," Kid said. "Eventually, I want to be the Quincy Jones and find my Michael Jackson. It's a circle, the circle of life, circle of music, circle of good things."

Cudi said he was invited to Hawaii to record tracks for West's 808s & Heartbreak, and Kanye rewarded him with a chain. Cudi was grateful, and he texted West to thank him. "I definitely told him that I appreciated him more than he knew and just to say 'thank you.' He hit me back, like, 'Man, you inspire me too,' " Cudi recalled, saying he was shocked by his response.

Kid said West thanked him for the future of G.O.O.D. Music: "When he told me that I inspired him on his project, and he's thanking me for adding years to the brand of G.O.O.D. Music, that's just so crazy."