MIA

at least it's closer!

http://open.spotify.com/album/1JV2adHIREQSZWTCrn6CbW

this is fucking great

http://pitchfork.com/news/52360-mia-fights-back-against-nfls-15-million-fine-for-super-bowl-middle-finger/

Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, M.I.A.'s legal team is planning to "go public with an explanation of how ridiculous it was for the NFL and its fans to devote such furor to this incident," says her lawyer, Howard King, "while ignoring the genocide occurring in her home country and several other countries, topics she frequently speaks to."

-___________________-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24671871

She even got help from Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on Attention.

"I was struggling with this song, trying to write lyrics that contained the word 'tent'," she says.

"There were only so many on my list - I had about 30. Julian Assange came into the studio and took my computer and basically decrypted the whole of the internet, and downloaded every word in the whole of the language that contained the word tent within it. He gave me, like, 4,000. And I finished the song.

"He doesn't get a writing credit," she says, "but he gets a thank you".

He'll get the last laugh when he leaks the album early.

lol

New track:

https://soundcloud.com/miauk/canseecando

not bad!

This is so great!

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2015/11/27/1448625960087/31f74e9a-61f9-46d9-81b6-97a6ae8edfdf-bestSizeAvailable.png?w=620&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&s=174c61bb463dbebdeeb16430aa81914f

This is literally the most predictable thing that has ever happened.

Yep. "Borders" video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgCosj_Y9lw

walking on water!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1dRgYgZ5U0

i love/hate the blase-blase trollfaceness of the lyrics

it's conflicting bc as never-in-doubt as this aesthetic is for m.i.a. it also feels very necessary right now, even filtered through her ego. and it really works as a song. the most coherent, tasteful way to approach the issue, no, but still necessary bc any pro-migrant view in pop culture, mainstream opinion etc is so hard to come by

ego whats up with that

lex otm

otm whats up with that

http://pitchfork.com/news/66241-afropunk-organizers-defend-mia-keep-her-on-festival-bill/

Organizers announced today that M.I.A. is still headlining Afropunk's London festival despite backlash over comments she made about the Black Lives Matter movement. In a statement, Afropunk wrote, "To us, the fact that M.I.A.'s comments sparked dialogue about a global view of the Black struggle is not a failing," later adding, "The debate is healthy and as people who have long been silenced, we refuse to participate in silencing of other voices." They continued, "We hope that this event also brings to light the experiences of black Brits, immigrants and refugees in the UK, who are continuously erased."

the new single is very good.

i'd probably still support her if she, say, shot someone in the middle of fifth avenue.

new album out today! Reviews have been mixed but it has some enjoyable moments imo

OMG IT'S OUT?!?!?!?!

yessssss finally good news in this hellish year

btw lex this isn't about the German MIA

Bah, I got excited for a bit that it was. I really loved her material back in the day, and I wonder why she hasn't done anything since Bittersüss, which was incredibly dope! And she had to suffer the indignity of some British singer stealing her artist name.

Listened to most of this while getting ready this morning and was not feeling it. :/ It's telling when one of the best tracks (Visa) is based around a 'Galang' sample.

Oh my god this album is so bad that it actually makes me kind of upset

For someone who is so risk taking, the dull inoffensive mediocrity of this album is the most disappointing thing she could possibly do, like I would take an over ambitious flop over this any day. What HAPPENED???

It's a weird record. Half way through the album she just seems to give up. There's some decent stuff here but it all sounds so unfinished. If this is her last album, it's a weak way to go out.

It all sounds like half-assed demos of someone else who likes MIA but has never made a record before

Also, a complete misuse of the angelic and idiosyncratic voice of Dexta Daps. That could have been anyone.

politics? what's up with that?

the people's republic of swaggerstan

She has hinted this might be her last album and that she's not that interested in music anymore, that she wants to explore other mediums. So I guess this is how MIA's music career ends, not with a bang but a whimper.

This is a disappointment after Matangi. The opening two tracks -released weeks before- made me excited for this but this just sounds very half-assed; The production is all over the place and some of these lyrics are terrible even by MIA standards. I really hope this isn't her swan song, would hate for her to leave in such a low note.

my god, every interview or tweet or whatever I've read w/ her abt this album (not to mention all of the recycled lyrics/samples/themes) basically amounts to "I gave up"

glad shes doing meltdown. though her interviews with all the nostalgia for 2004 make me worry a bit. lineup is decent. though i expected more non-western artists. no one from south asia? from the middle east? maybe it was just a programming difficulty. still, fun to have giggs, i wayne, dexta daps, etc at royal festival hall, lol.

not 100% sold on dexta daps, though his weeknd+bawdy dancehall combo makes me think he will be fun.

Anyone catch the doc

Yeah, it's really good! Guy who did it went to St.Martin's with her and she pretty clearly trusts him 100% which means it's very much her side of the story, but it also means she gives him tons of footage of herself growing up in London, hanging out with Justine Frishmann, going back to Sri Lanka in 2001 and trying to get her family to talk about the war (she wanted to be a doc filmmaker before she became a pop star).

The stuff about her flipping the bird at the Super Bowl feels so surreal to watch, that amount of outrage and pearl clutching decades after the Sex Pistols went on Grundy...I'm not usually one for "huh, America sure is WEIRD" type sentiments but I've seldom felt this alienated from that culture.

sounds so cool, thanks for the response Daniel

The first ILM thread I ever read. Anti-nostalgist that I try to be, I won't read it. I love M.I.A. though.

Dude, me too! I found this thread in 07 and then became an on and off lurker until loneliness hit in 2K13 and I embarked on a posting career.

Looking forward to seeing the doc. Nice piece and rankings. Some days my rankings would be the exact opposite. She's nice like that.

Damn, i agree with the list too. MAYA over Matangi.

need the documentary

Arular and Kala are such treasures

The doc is interesting. It could use an edit but its a compelling watch.

i'm still quite proud of the fact that the first thread about her was started by me, getting her name wrong in the process as there was 0
anywhere about her
mya 'gilang'.