M.I.A. - KALA

lolz irony of ironies that it's in noted amazing lyricist Timbaland's verse on "Come Around"

has there been a arular v. kala poll yet?

Kala blew me away a couple of months ago when I relistened. The lyrics, such as I understand them...I'm ambiguous about them morally, but that's part of what makes it interesting.

much prefer kala to arular. you folks saying arular is "warm and colorful" and kala is "dry and brittle" are weird.

the one with the kids is fucking terrible.

don't get the Jimmy hate. one of the best tracks on the album

so is Mango Pickle! (ie the one with the kids)

maybe I just like MIA for all the wrong reasons

the one with the kids is fucking awesome and most of them are better rappers than she is

i put that shit on and i'm like yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

with the most annoying "misstep" being "Jimmy".

Haha, for a while that was the only song on the album I could abide.

ftr, for those who like "Mango Pickle Down River":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQgIk3fV8zI&feature=player_embedded

i like jimmy a lot, can't stand mango.

really hoos? i feel like i've heard more than a few kids who could rap circles around those kids.

(btw I know the same point I made about MPDR can be made about "URAQT" but I also like the original version of that one)

don't get the Jimmy hate. one of the best tracks on the album

I like the song very much, but the music is almost completely lifted from that Bollywood film score, isn't it? Her vocals were okay, and the lyrics are hardly the best on the disc (they are a nice change-of-pace from the vague political/radical themes). It seems to me that much of the credit for this song has to go to the original, unless there's something I'm missing about her remake.

You guys are making me want to play this for the first time in two years. I will say that "Mango Pickle" kind of sums up my feelings about the album as a whole -- it's just kind of half-assed. I definitely got sick of Arular after a while, but at least it felt like a solid collection of songs.

really hoos? i feel like i've heard more than a few kids who could rap circles around those kids.

― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Thursday, October 1, 2009 8:49 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

lol not cause they're all baby rakims or w/e they just have a lot of personality

I like the song very much, but the music is almost completely lifted from that Bollywood film score, isn't it?

omg a rapper sampled something

wait OMG a rapper sampled something I already love!

its like chocolate in my peanut butter.

There is absolutely nothing half-assed about the first three songs on Kala. Disorienting, yeah, but not half-assed, not in the slightest!

Unless you're Hammer, usually rappers take a snippet of another song, and integrate it into their own work. Sometimes they even tinker with it, to suit their needs! I have heard this in action, and I believe it is the future.

(xp)

lolz @ "usually"

there's this guy, Puffy...

Seriously, I love all three MIA albums. And I love that song Jimmy. I just think it's less of an accomplishment than the rest of the disc, since it leans so heavily on the original's music.

Sorry if I seemed like an ass. I've been accused of that lately.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5qk2q_mia-uraqt-lip-dub_shortfilms

...huh

Oh yeah. Hammer and Puffy.

yeah, first three songs are so good that i don't really care about the rest of the record.

Naturally the songs from Kala that people are hating on here are the ones that I actually like.

time for a worst-song poll...

(ducks)

worst outfit would probably make a lot more sense here, no?

best outfit was pregnant-rapper duds on the grammys.

yep.

god that was so awesome

otm

"Jimmy" got played at my wedding.

ftr I like "Jimmy" a lot more now than I did when I first got the album but I'm still very likely to skip it and blast "Hussel" instead.

Loved Kala when it came out, gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars, I think, but did tend to skip over what struck me as less hooky tracks like "Mango Pickle" and "Hussel" (I also never liked "Boys").

Pleasantly surprised to re-listen all the way through recently and now adore most of the stuff I didn't care for initially. There's something offhand and, I don't know, visual (?) about "Mango Pickle" that I just didn't get initially. It feels more like a little scene from a movie than a song or something? Whatever, it really grabbed me this time. Also, the synth riff in "Hussel" kind of rules. "Jimmy" was the one that didn't hold up for me so great, though it's fine. Only one that still annoyed me for some reason (the vocals, I think) was "XR2." But overall the thing blows away the debut, from which I still love three or four tracks and can live without the rest.

the deadpan vocals on "XR2" are kind of my favorite thing about it

the one with the kids is fucking awesome and most of them are better rappers than she is

If there's a better one-line summary of "Kala", then I've yet to read it.

Funny how all the biggest MIA fans don't care much for "Mango Pickle", and vice versa.

i'm a huge m.i.a. fan and i love that track.

so there.

(and talking about whether she's a "good rapper" misses the point by so large a margin that it's not worth discussing.)

true. who gives a shit whether she can rap or not? what's important here is that she's a credible performer/creates an exciting persona/etc. ultimately, what matters is the artifact(s), imo. prioritizing skillz, beats, flow, and all that shit is so '70s prog/fusion-minded it isn't even funny. she's not competing with Nas or Jay-Z, guys.

http://www.soulstrut.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Fuck this, I love "Jimmy," especially the part where she strains her voice trying to hit those high notes.

yeah, "Jimmy" was my favorite track when i first heard it. still sounds great too.

Listening to Arular right now and it still sounds great, not tinny or thin at all.

So just to be clear, I do still love Arular; I just love Kala more.

the one with the kids is fucking awesome and most of them are better rappers than she is

never heard the MIA version, did she keep the original beat or just drop the kids vocals onto some Diplo track?

It's the original beat with a couple of extra flourishes dropped on it.

put this on in the studio tonight after hours of mixing etc and it felt really good

lol @ at the studio awkwardness, and timbaland taking m.i.a. to task for not being able to sing harmony:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbE4-TfN82c

also:

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

lol @ this ~ diplo: "Been in the studio with M.I.A. working on her new record. It's like Gucci Mane meets Animal Collective"