This track really got my attention. M.I.A.'s first record is great! It is such an interesting style of dance music and the politics intertwined in it make it intellectual too! Mainly though, this music will have you dancing and repeating the smart and catchy lyrics. M.I.A. has no qualms about mentioning bombs, guns, terrorists and racism in her songs.
Straddling the great musical divide, M.I.A. sticks her tongue out at the mainstream and moons the underground with a sound that both betrays and praises the music of her peers. She borrows from hip-hop, dancehall, reggaeton, electro-clash, drum 'n' bass and world music yet creates a sum different from the parts using little more than a drum machine and her own lyrical might.
Her debut album, Arular (XL/Beggar's Banquet), is a Masala of planet-rock beats and batucada cut ups set off by a delivery so cadent, it's the percussive force behind the album. M.I.A.'s most successful when she's letting loose over a dancehall rhythm, her cockney-Jamaican accent punctuating each low-end blast with proclamations of her prowess on the mike. Such is the nature of her MCing, which can be heard to blistering effect on the single "Fire Fire," on which she dismisses her peers, asserting, "Competition coming' up now/ Load up and fire, fire bo!" This is to say there's no match for M.I.A. Even comparable British MCs like Ms. Dynamite, The Streets and Dizzy Raskal fall short if only because they lack the sexual je ne se quoi that M.I.A. shamelessly exudes.
Moreover, where her countrymen exist solely within the British two-step tradition, M.I.A. is a welcome every woman coming off like a basement (Jamaican party) queen rocking a favela (Brazilian ghetto) bass line. All the while, hers is a patois that can only be heard on the streets of London, yet for all the musical globetrotting, M.I.A. has found a space that's all her own.
If you're not going to buy it, at least give it a listen... Maya's style deserves attention!
this is one of the most exciting new artists i've heard all year. picture dizzee rascal had he been born a sri lankan girl, mix in some raga influences and you're getting close. if you're a fan of hip-hop that's looking towards the future or even if you're just a fan of rock and roll's underbelly, you must lend this girl your ear. the only problem: two tracks is a tease! i can't wait for more.
Watched the video on yahoo. I think this is now the soundtrack to a Honda civic commercial, so don't be embarrassed for liking it. I shouldn't find it catchy, but I liked it too.
