Despite all the controversy that orbits MIA (last weekend's Superbowl being a case in point) it feels so disingenuous to talk just about that, especially when it all seems a little stage managed and the outrage unjustified and used to fill column inches (Pitchfork's reaction to last weekend's Superbowl being a case in point), especially as the Sri Lankan born singer's been responsible for some wonderful music over the past eight years. From the neon-covered grime of debut album 'Arular', to it's follow up Kaya's globalisation dancehall. After two incredible records, her third, MAYA, felt like increasingly small returns on the same format even though it contained a couple of great singles. Yet what's defined MIA's career has always been how forward thinking she's been; she used the internet to spread her music years before the Arctic Monkey's did, and more recently has been using viral videos, pitching the visual / musical together perfectly. Romain Gavras's video for 'Born Free' off MAYA felt incredible when it was released, both controversial and aesthetically stunning, it was designed to get people talking and it did.It also showed MIA's penchant for what some see as her slightly dodgy politics. Her new video for 'Bad Girls' sees the pair reunite to water cooler effect again with 4.3 million youtube views and counting.
What's great about MIA is that she's never relied on sex to sell
her music, and its genuinely heartening that she pisses people off
for talking about Sri Lankan politics, and doesn't get column
inches for wearing dresses made out of meat or having a shapely
bottom and a lovely pair. New song 'Bad Girls' is homage to, well,
bad girls; featuring girls racing cars in the arabian desert to a
bollywood beat whilst MIA files her nails on the roof of a moving
vehicle. Its perfectly MIA; a little bit cheesy, visually stunning,
aurally interesting and warrants many repeated listens.
