M.I.A. no longer M.I.A.

The voice of Sri Lanka is finally back. We all remember her right; the pregnant broad bouncing around on stage with Lil Wayne, T.I. and Jay-Z a couple years back at the Grammy’s and the out of nowhere gangster that gave us all Paper Planes. After her engagement and child birth, she’s ready to; once again, let her INSANE voice be heard.



 No one does it like her. Her new video, Born Free, is a 9 min short film. Unlike Gaga {**cough cough TELEPHONE}, M.I.A. gives her audience a message.  The video shows U.S. soldiers rounding up redheaded men and boys and bussing them to the desert where they are brutally beaten and killed. It bluntly depicts the absurdity of genocide (of which M.I.A. saw plenty during her early childhood in Sri Lanka) or a challenge to the idea of "other" in Arizona's immigration law.  The video is astounding (yet enlightening) even in the context of recent genre-bending music art-films. If M.I.A. doesn’t tell us about that part of the world and what’s going on, we would never know. Those are the things the media doesn’t want to report about. Instead of telling us about the genocide in Sri Lanka, they rather make us believe that Jay-Z and Beyonce’ are Lucifer worshipers. Fuck that. Niggas don’t even know where Sri Lanka is… (google it)


M.I.A’s album, /\/\ /\ Y/\, drops sometimes this July. Her album also includes her beautifully arranged single, XXXO, which is remixed featuring Mr. HOVA himself.  I’m sure she has more enlightening word for us yet at the same time has some amazing beats for us to fuck with. She’s never disappointed us, I’m sure she won’t start now.

by Janelle Varnando.