Just when it looked like the ongoing storm over MIA’s MAYA might finally have died down, along comes Diplo to stir it all up again. Lynn Hirschberg’s infamous hatchet job for the New York Times did MIA’s image a great deal of harm, but not because of the truffle fries controversy – if anything, the most damaging quotes came from her ex-collaborator and ex-boyfriend, who dismissed her “whole terrorism gimmick.” He’s expanded on his views this week in an interview with WWD, where he suggests that she “glamorize[d] terrorism” with the album – despite his entreaties not to do so – and that “when it comes to die-hard, facts-on-the-ground politics, she’s at zero. She’s nothing.”

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1. Last night Jay Levey, a manager for “Weird Al” Yankovic, said that permission had been granted for “Perform This Way” to appear on his new album. Apparently Lady Gaga had no idea that the song even existed. So what do you think: Was this whole thing a carefully orchestrated publicity stunt, or did Gaga fear the impending backlash? [via The Daily What]

2. HBO is developing a new series based on Jennifer Egan’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, A Visit From the Goon Squad. Egan will be a consultant on the project, but they haven’t found a writer to tackle the tough job of adapting it yet. [via Deadline]

3. Arkansas State University and the residents of Johnny Cash’s hometown of Dyess plan to turn his home into a museum, and they’re throwing a concert to help raise the money to do so. So far Rosanne Cash, John Carter and his wife Laura Cash, Tommy Cash, George Jones, and Kris Kristofferson are all slated to perform at the first annual Johnny Cash Musical Festival on August 4. [via Paste Mag]

4. Chris Brown and M.I.A. are reportedly making “magic” together in the recording studio. [via Perez]

5. Andy Warhol’s last great masterpiece, Self-Portrait, 1986, is going up for auction at Christie’s on May 11 as part of its Post-War and Contemporary Auction. The Pop Red work — one of the largest self-portraits ever attempted by the artist — is expected to fetch anywhere from $30 to $40 million. [via Art Daily]

Bonus link: Who Pays Teachers Best for their Time?

New York-based, self-taught photographer Mike Schreiber’s unique vision of hip-hop celebrities, from Nas and Biz Markie to Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Jay-Z, is collected for the first time in True Hip-Hop.

Schreiber captures his subjects with a real-life grit that becomes seemingly tangible. Most jaw-dropping is the strikingly candid proof sheet presenting a vulnerable young artist then known as Maya Arulpragasam, who would use Schreiber’s photos as she rose to fame as M.I.A.

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Somewhere in the gray area between Bob Dylan writing “Masters of War” and the 2004 presidential elections, singing songs about the things that matter got very uncool. Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, and Bob Marley were the hip, countercultural voices of their generation, but, up until recently, protest music has been the reserve of crusty punk rockers and be-dreaded folk singers – the kind you’d never want to end up to talking to across a non-vegan buffet table at a party.

However, the past decade has seen a revival of the modern protest song in pop and alternative music, spurred on by mounting disillusion with U.S. foreign policy, the Iraq War, and the increasing interest in politics among America’s youth. Everyone from Godspeed! You Black Emperor to Kanye West is doing it – heck, even Pink had a go with her cheese-layered ballad “Dear Mr. President.”

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Today at Flavorpill, we listened to M.I.A.’s new WikiLeaks-inspired” mixtape. We wondered if we’re smarter than this 2-year-old. We discovered that some people think that Pixar’s Cars is a ripoff of Doc Hollywood. We realized how much zombies and supermodels have in common. We fell a little harder in like with Gwyneth Paltrow. We found out about the odd practice of using orphaned kids as “practice babies” once upon a time. We were blown away by this one-minute claymation recap of Machete. We met the woman who really wrote Snooki’s novel. We were impressed by artist Yin Xiuzhen’s cities made out of clothing. And finally, we remembered why we used to be obsessed with James Van Der Beek — his ability to emote.

[Editor's note: For the next two Fridays, Flavorwire will be counting down our 20 most popular features of 2010. This post, which originally ran on January 19, 2010, comes in at position number 16.] Inspired by Lauren Leto’s “Stereotyping People By Their Favorite Author,” we realized the incredible potential for a mercilessly judgmental list of indie band stereotypes. It is a common fact that Cormac McCarthy readers are men who don’t eat cream cheese, but what about those who listen to The XX on repeat and The Flaming Lips on hallucinogens? They need labels, too. After the jump, in collaboration with contributor Jeff Luppino-Esposito, we lay down the reckless assumptions.

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We’ve spent quite a while celebrating the people and things we liked best in 2010, from underrated albums, actors, and films to art shows to comic books. But we can’t end the year without a look back at the folks we — and seemingly everyone else on the internet — loved to hate. From deranged actors and mouthy musicians to a controversial art-world player and a film and theater director who seems to be having the worst year ever, these are the ten cultural icons who pissed us off most this year.

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Clearly, there are few things we at Flavorpill appreciate more than odd fashion. We’d prefer to see a spectacular disaster of an outfit walk down a runway or red carpet than a safe, silky gown any day. And that is why we’re celebrating the year’s ten craziest looks — the ones we loved and the ones we hated. From Johnny Weir at the Olympics and M.I.A. in a burqa to Katy Perry’s boobs and American Apparel’s latest sex-appeal fail, we collect 2010′s boldest fashion statements after the jump.

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There was a time when music videos had to conform to certain guidelines: they had to be short, so as to hold the attention of teens who watched TRL (unless they were “Thriller”), and they had to be tasteful enough to air on basic cable. But now that we get so much of our entertainment online, and MTV barely airs music videos anymore, the rules have changed. These days, as this collection of 2010′s most gawked at and talked about clips demonstrates, anything goes. From the artsy to the political to the bizarre to the just plain awful, this is your year in NSFW music videos.

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Did you think M.I.A. could let the year end without getting in another shot at people who don’t appreciate her rich lady-revolutionary antics? Well, of course she couldn’t. Today, she announced on Twitter that she’ll be dropping a mixtape called (sigh) Vicky Leekx on New Years Eve, for the purpose of “layin bad minds to rest 2010!” We’re not fluent in M.I.A., but the track titles we’ve dug up* seem to confirm the general consensus that the record will be a parting shot at her biggest haters of the year.

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