I just want to hear something new and different… I’m not just saying that.
M.I.A. (read as M.I.A. or: “Maya”, as in Angelou) provides a new sound that might seem inaccessible at first but could just be the genre-busting future of pop music for which the world is looking for. As the daughter of a Sri Lankan militant, the London-born artist’s personal story and biography has been overexposed, romanticized, and sensationalized by many in the media. While interesting, Her refugee stories and anecdotes of her political flight between London and Sri Lanka, while interesting, pale in comparison to how she is able to manifest these and other experiences in her music. A derivative example of a bridge artist, M.I.A. incorporates elements of Dancehall, Electronica, Bollywood, Crunk, House, and Hip Hop in her production and quasi-political monotone.
At the age of eleven, M.I.A. was first exposed to Western radio while living in London. Hip hop was her first language. Roxanne Shante, Public Enemy, and NWA were her instructors. Her 2005 debut Arular is drenched in political world music grooves and up-tempo dance music that hint at these hip hop influences. Her spectacular 2007 follow-up Kala, however, is a much sharper, wittier, and edgier album that proves that the British-Sri Lankan is more Compton than Cambridge.
Check her lyrics on “20 Dollar”:
Like, do you know the cost of AK[47]s up in Africa?!?
Twenty dollars ain’t sh*t to you,
But that’s how much they are.
So they gonna use the sh*t just to get by.
And it’s more than her lyrics that are this stark and eye-opening. The sonic merits of Kala are quite possibly the best that 2007 will have to offer. Drown yourself in the battle-ready synths and huge drums of “Hussel”, a revolutionary and anthemic ditty that features a hungry 18-year old Nigerian emcee named African Boy who begins his verse by matter-of-factly repeating, “You think it’s tough now? Come to Africa.” M.I.A. layers uses everything from bird caws and breaking glass to slick adaptations of The Clash and Wrecks ’N’ Effects hits to sonically communicate the condition of a land and of a people that are indeed “really real”. Did I mention she co-produced the entire project? She’s on the boards and on the mic. And while she’s not exactly Whitney Houston vocally, the delivery and drone of her polarizing and slang-heavy lyrics will make you want to take to the streets… or at least write a letter to your local congressman.
If nothing else, M.I.A. seems earnest in her desire to communicate the human condition of the Third World in terms that make sense to pop music connoisseurs. If you’re a reggae/dancehall-type, you can find something to latch on to in her music. If you’re into Baltimore house, you can probably appreciate her talent and, at a minimum, groove to the sound. If hip hop’s your bag, the references to T.I. and the use of Marley Marl samples on Kala should put you at ease. For everyone else, just get mentally prepared for something new. The first listen will seem challenging and barbed, but give it time; this chick’s on to something.
In a recent interview with Spike Jonze, M.I.A. noted that “…a kid in Nigeria knows about 50 Cent’s life, but 50 Cent doesn’t know about that kid’s life.” Balance, consciousness, and a modicum of awareness is what she seeks. Whether she gets it or not is all dependent of on if the Western world can get down with the sound.
