Pitchfork

Lily Allen is a proper pop star. Sure, she makes music. But she also gets into fights, says ridiculous things in newspapers on a semi-regular basis, and drinks too much at important events. She's a headline machine-- manna for lowly news reporters. And with her new album, It's Not Me, It's You, about a month away, Lily's going into hyperdrive on the tabloid circuit. It's a very hip-hop-esque blitz: names are named, and there's a ton of drug talk. Somewhere, 50 Cent is smiling. Here's a blow-by-blow:

-- Battle of, Um, Wits With Pop Contemporary? Check!

After trading some vague insults with Katy Perry last year (Perry made a joke about Allen's weight; Allen called Perry "crass"), Lily went in for the kill this week on-- where else?-- Facebook: "I have Katy Perry's number, someone did me a favor," she wrote, sounding like a mob boss. "I'm just waiting for her to open her mouth one more time then it hits Facebook." Ok, it's not exactly threatening to decapitate a man and put his head on the top of a Christmas tree, but it's something.

-- Bogus-Sounding New Age Diet Treatment? Check!

In an effort to look her best for the new LP launch, Lily is undergoing "hypnotherapy sessions," according to Marie Claire (yes, we just sourced Marie Claire). The sessions cost $450 each and, we imagine, involve swinging lettuce (or, possibly, Vitamin Water) in front of the subject for at least four hours. We're not sure if this news jibes with the "but she called me fat!" Katy Perry fracas but who says self-promotion has to be consistent?

-- Talking About Drugs, Labels, and Money Without One Iota of Discretion? Check!

In her recent interview with UK mag The Word, Lily went all out on basically every controversial topic known to man except racism and Vampire Weekend. We highly recommend the entire Q&A, but here are a few choice passages:

On drugs: "The only story is that drugs are bad and they will kill you. You will become a prostitute or a rapist or a dealer. But that's not true. I know lots of people that take cocaine three nights a week and get up and go to work every day, no problem at all....Some people are bad at taking drugs."

On her label owners: "They're wankers and they don't know what they're doing. They will fail. They don't know how to run a creative business. They are killing us, frankly. I wish I could get dropped. But it won't happen."

On the diminished luxuries of the cost-cutting, post-CD era: "I get e-mails asking if I could go to go to Paris for a week to work with some hot producer. I ask for a hotel and I get a two-star place in the eighth arrondissement on my own. I'm like, 'Do you want me to get raped and killed?'"

On flashing Damon Albarn: "I was wearing this pink vintage shirt that only had three buttons on and when I stood up they all went at the same time. It was the angle I was sitting at, I'm sure. I've not worn it since."

If the album is half as good as the build-up, we're in for a treat.