M.I.A. (artist)

M.I.A.

M.I.A. in 2009
Background information
Birth name Mathangi Arulpragasam
Born 18 July 1975 (1975-07-18) (age 35)[1]
Origin Mitcham, South London, United Kingdom
Genres Dance, electronic, world, alternative, hip-hop
Occupations Vocalist, singer-songwriter, rapper, visual artist, photographer, fashion designer, record producer
Instruments Vocals, percussion
Years active 2000–present
Labels N.E.E.T., XL, Interscope, Showbiz
Website miauk.com

Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam (Tamil: மாதங்கி 'மாயா' அருள்பிரகாசம்; born 18 July 1975),[1] better known by her stage name M.I.A., is a British songwriter, record producer, singer, rapper, fashion designer, visual artist, and activist.

An accomplished visual artist by 2002, M.I.A. came to prominence in early 2004 through file-sharing of her singles "Galang" and "Sunshowers" on the Internet.[2] She released her Mercury Prize-nominated debut album Arular in 2005. Her second album, Kala, was released in 2007 along with the single "Boyz" obtaining Gold status in Canada and the U.S. (RIAA-certified) and Silver status in the UK according to the BPI. "Paper Planes", a track from this album became a chart favourite in 2008. Her third album, Maya, was released in 2010 with the single "XXXO", and reached the top ten in numerous countries worldwide. She has embarked on three worldwide headlining tours. She has been nominated for two Grammy Awards and an Academy Award.

Her compositions have been noted to encompass various genres, often with political lyricism and artwork. M.I.A. has described her music style as being "other".[3] Her work as a graphic designer, providing artwork and photography for releases and as a director of music videos has garnered similar recognition and in 2008 M.I.A. released a collection of her fashion designs. She is the founder of the multimedia label N.E.E.T. In 2009, Time magazine placed M.I.A. in its annual Time 100 list of the world's most influential people.[4]

Contents

Personal background

Mathangi Arulpragasam was born in Hounslow, London to Arul Pragasam,[5] and his wife, Kala. Her family is of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. The couple had met in a pub in Hounslow and, with Kala needing an extension to her visa, were married.[6] The couple had two daughters in England, Maya and Kali.[6] When she was six months old, her family moved back to their native Jaffna, Sri Lanka.[6] Motivated by his wish to support Tamil independence on the island, her father became a political activist, adopting the name Arular, and was a founding member of the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS), a political Tamil group that worked to establish an independent Tamil Eelam.[7][8][9] Her stage name, M.I.A., stands for Missing In Acton.[10]

Because of the Sri Lankan Civil War, the first eight years of her life were marked by displacement. Hiding from the Sri Lanka Army, contact with her father was strictly limited.[10][11] As the civil war escalated, the family relocated to Chennai, moving into a derelict house with sporadic visits from her father who was introduced to the children as their "uncle".[11][12] During a period when her family temporarily resettled in Jaffna, the war escalated further and her school was destroyed in a government raid.[9][13] After persecution (with violence perpetrated on her mother by soldiers)[6] she, her elder sister Kali, younger brother Sugu, and her mother moved back to London in 1986 where they were housed as refugees.[11]

Arulpragasam grew up in South London, where she lived on the Phipps Bridge Estate in Mitcham district.[14] There, she learned to speak English.[8] Arulpragasam graduated from London's Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, with a degree in fine art, film, and video.[15] She lived for two years in Bedford-Stuyvesant, U.S. where she met her fiance Benjamin Zachary Bronfman (aka Benjamin Brewer). Brewer is an environmentalist, ex-singer and guitarist for the band The Exit and a member of the Bronfman liquor dynasty.[16][17][18] She currently lives in Brentwood, Los Angeles in the U.S.. M.I.A. gave birth to her son Ikhyd Edgar Arular Bronfman in 2009 just days after performing at the 2009 Grammy Awards.[19][20]

Art and film

Arulpragasam's first public exhibition of paintings in 2001 at the Euphoria Shop on London's Portobello Road featured graffiti art and spray-paint canvasses mixing Tamil political street art with images of London life and consumerist culture.[13][21] The show was nominated for the Alternative Turner Prize; (Jude Law was among early buyers of her art); and a monograph book of the collection was published by Pocko,[1] titled M.I.A..[21][22][23] During her time in film school, she cites "radical cinema—Harmony Korine and Dogme 95" as some of her cinematic inspirations.[24] Having written a script, Arulpragasam was approached by John Singleton to work on a film in Los Angeles.[25] Arulpragasam attributes her early interest in fashion and textiles to her seamstress mother, and while at St. Martin's often designed clothes using "bright fluorescent fishnet fabrics".[26] In 2000, M.I.A. directed the video for Elastica single "Mad Dog God Dam." She returned to Jaffna in 2001 to film a documentary on Tamil youth there, where due to harrassment she faced, was unable to complete filming.[25][27] In 2007 she directed the music video for her song "Bird Flu" and later the single "Boyz" with Jay Williams.[28][29] She posted a video she directed for the song "S.U.S. (Save Ur Soul)" a year later and in 2009, directed the video for the Rye Rye song "Bang."[30] A video she made for "Space" in 2010 was released on YouTube, and in August of that year, she premiered her self-helmed video for the song "XXXO".[31] M.I.A. will judge at the inaugural Vimeo Festival & Awards, which will launch in New York in October 2010.[32]

Music career

Early career

M.I.A. performing at Sónar on her Arular Tour

A commission from Elastica's Justine Frischmann to provide the artwork and cover image for the band's second album, The Menace, led to Arulpragasam following the band on tour in forty American states, video-documenting the event, and eventually directing the music video for Elastica's single "Mad Dog God Dam".[9][13] The support act on the tour, electroclash artist Peaches, introduced Arulpragasam to the Roland MC-505 sequencing drum machine and encouraged her to experiment in the artform that she felt least confident in—music.[33] Working with a simple set-up (a second-hand 4-track tape machine, a 505, and a radio microphone), back in London, Arulpragasam worked up a series of six songs onto a demo tape—included were the songs "Lady Killa", "M.I.A.", and "Galang" — which aroused interest.[13][34]

A mix of dancehall, electro, jungle, and world music, Showbiz Records pressed 500 copies of the independent vinyl single "Galang" in 2003, which became popular and made an immediate impact.[12][35] In 2004, file sharing and airplay on college radio of songs such as "Galang" and "Sunshowers", with the rise in popularity of them in clubs and around the Internet by word of mouth, made her a household name to international music listeners before she had graced a stage, leading commentators to herald her as one of the first successful examples of doing so—someone who could be used to study and reexamine the impact of the Internet on the way that listeners listened to and were exposed to new music.[2][36] Major record labels caught onto the popularity of "Galang", and M.I.A. eventually signed to XL Recordings.[37]

"Galang" was re-released in 2004. The accompanying music video for the song, featuring multiple M.I.A.s amid a backdrop of her militaristic graffiti artwork animated and brought to life, was art-directed by M.I.A., depicting scenes of urban Britain and war. Her next single, "Sunshowers", released on 5 July 2004, and its B-side ("Fire Fire") described guerrilla warfare and asylum seeking, with one reviewer characterizing the former as "a portrait of religious persecution" and the latter as a "tug-of-war battle between pop culture and guerrilla culture".[11] For this track, M.I.A. filmed a video in the jungles of South India.[15] A successful mashup mixtape of Arular tracks co-produced with the DJ Diplo, Piracy Funds Terrorism was released in December 2004 via the blogosphere and her live shows.[2][12][38]

Arular (2005)

M.I.A. performing at the Prince in Melbourne in February 2006.

Originally completed and ready for release in September 2004, Arular's release was delayed over several months, with pushed back dates of release between December 2004 and February 2005 mentioned.[2] Prior to the LP's release, Arulpragasam made her North American debut at the Drake Hotel in Toronto in February 2005, pulling in a diverse crowd. Receiving a response described as "phenomenal", attendees already knew many of her songs.[39]

Arulpragasam's debut album Arular was eventually released worldwide in March 2005 to universal critical acclaim.[40] Composing and titling the album Arular in acknowledgment of her and her father's past, much of its focus lay in experimentation. Consisting of bold, jarring and ambient sounds, complementary lyrics on Arular were both observational and reflective of her experiences with identity politics, indie culture, popular culture, poverty, revolution, war and the working class, exemplified by songs such as "Amazon", "Fire Fire" and "M.I.A.". Referencing the PLO and the Tamil independence movements, its themes, use of culture-jamming, multi-lingual slang, and its mix of strident and elusive imagery, social commentary and storytelling incited debate.[41][42]

Arulpragasam was first exposed to Western radio in London, hearing broadcasts emanating from her neighbours' flats in the late '80s.[8] Her liking for hip-hop and dancehall developed from there, finding a common identity with "the starkness of the sound" of Public Enemy, records by MC Shan, Ultramagnetic MCs and the "weird, distinct style" of acts such as Silver Bullet and London Posse.[37][43] Her time at college shaped her affinity for punk, the emerging sound of Britpop alt-rock and electroclash, after which she began writing songs.[33] She has spoken of the large influence musicians The Slits, Malcolm Mclaren and The Clash had on her living in west London.[44][45]

Making Arular in her bedroom in west London, she built tracks off her demos with programmed beats she wrote on the 505.[13][46] Her work attracted artists such as the rapper Nas, who by early 2005 stated, "Her sound is the future".[47] Following "Galang" and "Sunshowers", she later released her third single from Arular, the funk carioca-inspired co-composition "Bucky Done Gun" in July 2005. This marked the first time favela funk was played on mainstream Brazilian radio and music television.[48] Arulpragasam performed through 2005 supporting her album at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which drew a favourable response, an unusually large crowd and a rare Coachella encore for the billing she played[49]--the Bue Festival, a free headlining show at Central Park Summerstage and the Summer Sonic Fest as well as other venues.[50] She also toured with Roots Manuva and LCD Soundsystem.[50][51] M.I.A. has hinted at initial fears with touring to support her records, citing her dyslexia.[52] She appeared on the track "Bad Man" on Missy Elliott’s 2005 album The Cookbook.

On 19 July 2005, M.I.A. was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize for Arular.[53] In December, Arular was the second most featured album in music critics’ Year-End Top 10 lists for 2005[54] and named best of 2005 by publications such as Blender, Stylus and Musikbyrån.[40][55] M.I.A. ended 2005 briefly touring with Gwen Stefani and the Big Day Out festival.

Kala (2007)

M.I.A. at the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in August 2009

In 2006 M.I.A. wrote and recorded her second studio album, Kala, named after her mother.[56] Following censorship controversies and documented U.S. visa problems in 2006, Kala was worked on while M.I.A. travelled through locations including India, Trinidad, Liberia, Jamaica, Australia, Japan, the UK and US. She used more diverse live instrumentation and brash colours for heavier textures, and layering, whilst exploring traditional dance and folk styles such as soca and urumee melam (in songs such as "Boyz") and rave culture and music (in "XR2") among others.[57][58] The unconventional recording sessions brought out, as did her artwork and photography for the album, both the celebratory and the "rawer, darker, outsider" themes that were felt to have run through Kala.[59] The album saw M.I.A. re-embrace bootleg soundtracks of the film music of India from her childhood.[58] Arulpragasam wrote songs about immigration politics, her personal relationships and war.[59][60] She made songs and videos such as "Hit That" and "Bird Flu" available on her Internet accounts, official website and for digital download.[61] M.I.A. featured in the song "Come Around", a bonus track on Timbaland's 2007 album Shock Value and a track on Kala.[62] Released on 11 June 2007, "Boyz’", music video was co-directed by Jay Will and M.I.A. and the album's second single "Jimmy" followed written about a genocide tour date invite Arulpragasam received whilst in Liberia.[62]

Like its predecessor, universal acclaim met Kala's release in August 2007 and the album earned a normalised rating of 87 out of 100 on the review aggregator MetaCritic.[63] Kala proved much more commercially successful than her debut. Arulpragasam’s 2007 tour in support of Kala, included performances in Europe, America and Asia. Festival appearances included Rock en Seine, Get Loaded in the Park — a festival gig that drew a crowd sing-along pitch described in a review as "near hysterical", the Electric Picnic, Connect, the Virgin Festivals, the Osheaga Festival and Parklife.[64] She ended the year with concerts in the United Kingdom.[65] She provided guest vocals on supporting act Buraka Som Sistema's kuduro song "Sound of Kuduro".[66] In the documentary Spike Jonze Spends Saturday with M.I.A, M.I.A. and director Spike Jonze visit Afrikan Boy in his immigrant neighborhood of Woolwich, South London, where she discloses her plans to launch her own record label, Zig-Zag, with Afrikan Boy’s track "Lidl" being its first release.[67][68] In December 2007, Kala was named the best album of 2007 by publications including Rolling Stone and Blender.[69] M.I.A. released Paper Planes - Homeland Security Remixes EP digitally in February 2008 and physically three weeks later.[70] The same year, she released How Many Votes Fix Mix EP which included a remix of "Boyz" featuring Jay-Z.[71] M.I.A. toured during the first half of 2008, with opening tourmates including Holy Fuck, before stating she would end touring in support of Kala, canceling her European tour dates through June and July, opting to work on her next album. She stated "This is my last show, and I'm glad I'm spending it with all my hippies" during her performance at the Bonnaroo Music Festival.[72]

In 2008, M.I.A. started her record label N.E.E.T. Recordings, an imprint of Interscope Records.[73] The first artist signed to the label was Baltimore rapper Rye Rye. N.E.E.T. Recordings' first release was the soundtrack to the motion picture, Slumdog Millionaire.[74] M.I.A. contributed songs for A. R. Rahman's score of Slumdog Millionaire, which included the collaboration "O... Saya". The song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.[75] M.I.A. was due to perform at the Oscars a week after her Grammy Award performance on her son's birth due date, but could not.[76] Seeking to expose new, underground music with the label she signed more bands including Baltimore musician Blaqstarr, indie rock band Sleigh Bells and visual artist Jaime Martinez in 2010.[77] 3D photographic images of M.I.A. by Martinez were commissioned in April of that year.[78][79]

Maya (2010)

In January 2010, M.I.A. posted her video for the song "Space" from her forthcoming third album.[80][81] While working on her third album, M.I.A. co-wrote a song with Christina Aguilera called "Elastic Love" for her album Bionic.[82] M.I.A.'s third album, Maya - stylised as /\/\/\Y/\, a typographic equivalent of M.I.A.'s legal name - was released on June 23 in Japan with bonus tracks, before its release in other countries.[83][84] Maya is M.I.A.'s highest charting album release to date. Originally set to be released on 29 June 2010 in the U.S., her record label announced a new release date of 13 July 2010.[83][85] Maya was a more internet-inspired album, which M.I.A. described as a mix of "babies, death, destruction and powerlessness".[86][77][87] Before its release, "Born Free" leaked on the Internet in April. The music video for the song, a short film of the same name, was released via M.I.A.'s official website a few days later. It was directed by Romain Gavras, depicting a genocide against red-haired adolescents being forced to run across a minefield.[88] The video caused controversy due to its graphically violent content.[89]

The first official single from Maya, "XXXO", was released on May 11, 2010.[90] "Steppin' Up", "Teqkilla", and "Tell Me Why" were also released as promotional singles exclusively on iTunes in the days leading to the release of Maya. The video for "XXXO" was released online in August. M.I.A. has hinted that a video is being made with Spike Jonze directing for the single "Teqkilla."[91]

M.I.A. performed at the 2010 Festival Sudoeste, Way Out West Festival, Big Chill, Underage Festival, Øyafestivalen and the Flow Festival.[92][93][94]

Music style and image

M.I.A.'s music is a palimpsest of styles such as electro, reggae, R'n'B, alternative rock, rap ballads and Asian folk filled with intertextual and intermedial references to her musical influences including Missy Elliott, Tamil film music, Lou Reed, The Pixies, Beastie Boys and London Posse.[95] She was a childhood fan of pop artist Michael Jackson.[96] M.I.A. describes her music as dance music or club music for the "other", and has stressed her preference of being an "anti-pop" star.[57] Jimmy Iovine, head of her American distribution label Interscope, compares M.I.A. to Reed and punk rock songwriter Patti Smith, and recalled, "She's gonna do what she's gonna do, I can't tell her shit."[97] "The really left-of-center artists, you really wonder about them. Can the world catch up? Can the culture meet them in the middle? That’s what the adventure is. It doesn’t always happen, but it should and it could."[98] Richard Russell, head of XL Recordings, states, "You've got to bend culture around to suit you, and I think M.I.A has done that" adding that M.I.A.'s composition and production skills were a major attraction for him.[99][100] Similarly, The Guardian critic Hattie Collins commented of M.I.A.'s influence; "A new raver before it was old. A baile funk/pop pioneer before CSS and Bonde do Rolê emerged. A quirky female singer/rapper before the Mini Allens had worked out how to log on to MySpace. Missing In Action (or Acton, as she sometimes calls herself) has always been several miles ahead of the pack."[101] Her stage performances are described as "highly energetic" often with scenes of what Rolling Stone critic Rob Sheffield describes as "jovial chaos, with dancers and toasters and random characters roaming the stage."[102] Camille Dodero, writing in The Village Voice opined that M.I.A. "works hard to manifest the chaos of her music in an actual environment, and, more than that, to actively create discomfort, energy, and anger through sensory overload."[103] Her role as an artist in and voice lender to the subaltern is appreciated by theorists as bringing such ideas to first world view.[104][105][106] USA Today included her on its list of the 100 Most Interesting People of 2007, and in 2009 she was cited in Time magazine's Time 100 as one of the world's most influential people for her global influence across many genres.[4]

Lyrics and artwork

Recognised while exhibiting and publishing several of her coloured stencils and paintings portraying the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and urban Britain in the early 2000s, M.I.A. has become known for integrating her imagery of political violence into her music videos and her cover art. Lyrics on Arular are reflective of her experiences of identity politics, indie culture, popular culture, poverty, revolution, gender and sexual stereotypes, war and with the working class in London.[95][41] Referencing the PLO and the Tamil independence movements on her debut, its themes, use of culture-jamming, multi-lingual slang, and its mix of strident and elusive imagery, social commentary and storytelling have incited debate on the "invigoratingly complex" politics of the issues she highlighted.[15][42][107][108] Government visits to her official website following her debut's release in 2005, and a U.S. refusal to grant M.I.A. a travel visa coupled with her brief presence on the U.S. Homeland Security Risk List in 2006 due to her politically charged lyrics led to her second album Kala being recorded in a variety of locations around the world.[10][109][110]

On Kala, M.I.A.'s songs about immigration politics, her personal relationships, love songs set in Darfur and war - sharing her experiences during the recording in Chennai, Angola, Trinidad shantytowns, Liberia and London - were well appreciated.[59][41] The album's artwork was inspired by African art, "from dictator fashion to old stickers on the back of cars," which like her clothing range, she hoped would capture "a 3-D sense, the shapes, the prints, the sound, film, technology, politics, economics" of a certain time.[111] Her third album, Maya, tackled information politics in the digital age, loaded with technological references and love songs and deemed by some to be her most melancholic and mainstream effort.[112] She revealed that she felt "disconnected" during the writing process, and spoke of the Internet inspiration that could be found in the songs and the artwork.[113] [114]

M.I.A. views her work as reflective, pieced together in one piece of work "so you can acquire it and hear it." She states, "All that information floats around where we are -- the images, the opinions, the discussions, the feelings -- they all exist, and I felt someone had to do something about it because I can't live in this world where we pretend nothing really matters."[9] Censorship on MTV of "Sunshowers" proved controversial and was again criticized following Kala release "Paper Planes".[9][115] YouTube's block of "Born Free" from Maya was criticized by M.I.A. as hypocritical, citing the Internet channel's streaming of real-life killings.[6][86] She went on to state, "It's just fake blood and ketchup and people are more offended by that than the execution videos", referring to clips of Sri Lankan troops shooting unarmed, blindfolded, naked men that she had previously tweeted.[6]

Activism

M.I.A. performing on the Kala Tour in Newcastle

M.I.A.'s consistent addressing of several conflicts and oppressed peoples around the world, including the Tamils, Palestinians and African Americans[116] has been both tremendously heralded and criticized. M.I.A. notes that the voicelessness she felt as a child dictated her role as a refugee advocate and voice lender to civilians in war during her career, saying in an interview in June 2010:

Sometimes I repeat my story again and again because it’s interesting to see how many times it gets edited, and how much the right to tell your story doesn’t exist. People reckon that I need a political degree in order to go, ‘My school got bombed and I remember it cos I was ten-years-old’. I think if there is an issue of people who, having had first hand experiences, are not being able to recount that - because there is laws or government restrictions or censorship or the removal of an individual story in a political situation - then that’s what I’ll keep saying and sticking up for, cos I think that’s the most dangerous thing. I think removing individual voices and not letting people just go ‘This happened to me’ is really dangerous. That’s what was happening... nobody handed them the microphone to say ‘This is happening and I don’t like it'.[117]

M.I.A. attributes much of her success to the "homeless, rootlessness" of her early life, and is considered to be a refugee icon.[118] The 2008 Experience Music Project's Pop Conference held in Seattle, U.S. featured paper submissions and discussions on M.I.A. presented on the theme of "Shake, Rattle: Music, Conflict, and Change."[119][120] Throughout her career, M.I.A. has used networking sites such as Twitter and MySpace to discuss and highlight the human rights abuses Sri Lanka is accused of perpetrating against Tamils. She has joined other activists in condemning as "systematic genocide" against the Tamils the actions of the Sri Lankan government during the civil war on that island.[121][122] M.I.A. endorsed campaigner Jan Jananayagam at the 2009 European Parliament election, a last minute candidate standing on a platform of anti-genocide, civil liberties, financial transparency, the environment and women's rights who became one of the most successful independent election candidates ever.[123] Death threats directed at M.I.A. and her son have followed her activism, which she also cited as an influence on the songs on her album Maya.[124] In 2010, she condemned China's role in supporting and supplying arms to the Sri Lankan government during the conflict, stating its sufficient weight within the United Nations was ensuring no prosecutions were forthcoming despite mass evidence of war crimes committed during the conflict.[125]

M.I.A. with partner Ben Bronfman and Twitter founders Jack Dorsey and Evan Williams

The same year, she shared her fears over the influence video game violence could have on her son and his generation, saying "I don't know which is worse. The fact that I saw it in my life has maybe given me lots of issues, but there's a whole generation of American kids seeing violence on their computer screens and then getting shipped off to Afghanistan. They feel like they know the violence when they don't. Not having a proper understanding of violence, especially what it's like on the receiving end of it, just makes you interpret it wrong and makes inflicting violence easier."[126]

M.I.A.'s attempts to provoke are both lauded and questioned, with her complete control of her output noted as a primary reason for her success.[127] Michael Meyer opines that M.I.A.'s record imagery, lyrical booklets, homepages and videos "support the image of provocation yet also avoidance of, or inabilty to use consistent images and messages. Instead of catering to stereotypes, she plays with them, yet in such a way that the result becomes uncategorizable and hence unsettling," yet considers this "in between status" as an 'act of missing' - one's roots and home - while trying to integrate into and assimilate into a new environment and missing one's goal once again."[95] D.K. Ariyam praises this ability to "transform disadvantage into a creative form of expression."[128] Prior to her 2008 Coachella festival appearance, M.I.A. filmed from her Bed Stuy apartment window and posted on YouTube an incident involving a black man being apprehended by white police officers, which in light of the Sean Bell shooting incident, elicited commentary debating the force used for the arrest.[129] Her 2010 video for the single "Born Free", widely viewed as a metaphor for a genocide, was deemed "unflinchingly, unapologetically real" and "thought provoking" by some music critics, but "sensationalistic" and intended for "shock value" by others.[105][130] In turn, media portrayals of M.I.A. have been called "problematic" and M.I.A. has confronted writers over misrepresentation, famously with Pitchforkmedia and The New York Times in the past.[104][131]

Fashion

M.I.A. performing on the People Vs. Money Tour

M.I.A. cites guerilla art and fashion as major influences. Her mother works as a seamstress in London. An early interest in fashion and textiles —designing confections of "bright fluorescent fishnet fabrics"— was a hallmark of her time at Central St. Martins. M.I.A. was a roommate of fashion designer Luella Bartley and is a long-time friend of designer Carri Mundane.[26][132] Clothes from her limited-edition "Okley Run" line—Mexican and Afrika jackets and leggings, Islamic hoodies, and tour-inspired designs were sold in 2008 during fashion week.[133][41] She commented, "I wanted to tie all my work together. When I make an album, I make a number of artworks that go with it, and now I make some clothes that go with it too. So this Okley run was an extension of my Kala album and artwork."[134]

Contrary to her present style, M.I.A.'s Arular era style has been described as "tattered hand me downs and patched T-shirts of indigence", embodying the "uniform of the refugee" but modified with cuts, alterations and colours to fashion a distinctly new style and apparel line.[128] Building on this during the Kala era with "such a playful combination of baggy t-shirts, leggings and short-shorts, incorporating eccentric accessories all bedazzled in bold patterns, sparkle and over-saturated neon colour" fashioned her signature style that has inspired flocks of “garishly-clothed all-too-sassy new-rave girls...[with] bright red tights, cheetah-skin smock and [a] faded ‘80s T- shirt.” Her commodifying and performance of this refugee image has been noted to "reposition the “refugee” marker from a site of ostensible disarticulation to one of synthesis and possibility. Hailed as presenting a challenge to the mainstream with her ironic style, M.I.A. has been praised for dictating such a subcultural trend worldwide, "combining adolescent frustrations of race and class with a strong desire to dance."[118]

M.I.A. was once denied entry into a Marc Jacobs party, but subsequently DJed at the designer's 2008 fashion show afterparty, and modelled for "Marc by Marc Jacobs" in Spring/Summer 2008.[57] She turned down her inclusion on People magazine's list of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" in 2009. M.I.A.'s status as a style icon, trendsetter and trailblazer is globally affirmed, with her distinct identity, style, and music illuminating social issues of gender, the third world, and popular music generating considerable acclaim.[118] Critics point out such facets of her public persona underline the importance of authenticity, challenging the globalized popular music market, and demonstrating music's strive to be political.[118] Her albums have been met with considerable acclaim, often heralded as "eclectic" for possessing a genre all their own, "packaging inherent politics in the form of pleasurable dance music."[95][118] M.I.A.'s artistic efforts to connect this "extreme eclecticism" with issues of exile, war, violence and terrorism are both commended and criticized.[95] Commentators laud M.I.A.'s use and subversion of her refugee and migrant experiences, through the weaving of musical creativity, artwork and fashion with her personal life as having dispelled stereotypical notions of the immigrant experience; affording her a unique place in popular music, while demanding new responses within popular music, media and fashion culture.[128]

Philanthropy

M.I.A. has funded Youth Action International and set up school-building projects in Liberia in 2006.[135][136] She supports the Unstoppable Foundation, an organization that provides children in developing countries the resources they need to receive education.[137] During her visit to Liberia she met the then President of Liberia, rehabilitated ex-child soldiers and appeared as part of a humanitarian mission in the "4Real" TV-Series documentary on the post war situation in the country with activist Kimmie Weeks.[136][97][138] Following her performance at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards afterparty, she donated her $100,000 performance fee to building more schools in the country, telling the crowd, "It costs $52,000 to build a school for 1,000."[139][140][141] Winning the 2008 Official Soundclash Championships (iPod Battle) with her "M.I.A. and Friends" team, 20% of the following year's championship ticket sales were donated to her Liberian school building projects.[142][143] In 2009, she supported the "Mercy Mission to Vanni" aid ship, destined for Vanni and controversially blocked from reaching its destination.[131]

Discography

Tours

Awards

Some awards and nominations M.I.A. has received are listed below.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "MIA's baby's name revealed". NME. NME.com. http://www.nme.com/news/mia/43637. Retrieved 24 March 2008. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Timmermann, Josh (24 February 2005). "M.I.A. - Arular – Review". Stylus Magazine. http://www.stylusmagazine.com/review.php?ID=2772. Retrieved 24 December 2007. 
  3. ↑ "M.I.A.". MySpace. http://www.myspace.com/mia. Retrieved 24 October 2008. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "M.I.A. - The 2009 Time 100". TIME. 30 April 2009. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1894410_1893836_1894427,00.html. Retrieved 23 August 2010. 
  5. ↑ Webb, Adam (26 April 2005). "“MIA - Arular 2005"". Yahoo! Music. http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/050426/33/1xkwz.html. Retrieved 12 November 2008. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Sawyer, Miranda (13 June 2010). "MIA: 'I'm here for the people'". The Observer (Guardian Media Group). http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jun/13/mia-feature-miranda-sawyer. Retrieved 23 July 2010. 
  7. ↑ Wang, Oliver (9 May 2005). "M.I.A.: Rapper and Daughter of Revolution". NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4635471. Retrieved 6 May 2007. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Wheaton, Robert (6 May 2005). "London Calling - For Congo, Columbo, Sri Lanka...". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/music/interviews/mia-0505062.shtml. Retrieved 6 May 2007. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Harrington, Richard (16 September 2005). "M.I.A., No Loss For Words". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/15/AR2005091500697_pf.html. Retrieved 9 November 2008. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Empire, Kitty (20 March 2005). "Flash-forward". The Observer (London: Guardian Media Group). http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,1438918,00.html. Retrieved 30 March 2007. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Umile, Dominic. "M.I.A. Arular". Prefix. http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews/cds/M/MIA/Arular/1233. Retrieved 30 March 2007. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Kellman, Andy. "M.I.A.: Short biography". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hbfyxqealdfe~T1. Retrieved 30 March 2007. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 McKinnon, Matthew (3 March 2005). "Tigress Beat". CBC. http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/mia.html. Retrieved 30 December 2008. 
  14. ↑ Chris Mugan (1 October 2004). "Mia: Learning to speak guerrilla language". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/mia-learning-to-speak-guerrilla-language-548181.html. Retrieved 23 August 2010. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Mangla, Ismat (4 October 2004). "Not-So Missing in Action". Nirali Magazine. 
  16. ↑ Benjamin Bronfman (28 February 2009). "The Youth Storm Washington". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/benjamin-bronfman/the-youth-storm-washingto_b_170754.html. Retrieved 6 November 2009. 
  17. ↑ MacNeil, Jason (31 May 2008). "M.I.A. to W.E.D.". Edmonton Sun. http://www.edmontonsun.com/Entertainment/Music/2008/05/31/5731066-sun.html. Retrieved 1 June 2008. 
  18. ↑ Vena, Jocelyn (13 October 2008). "M.I.A. Confirms Pregnancy: 'I'm Creating A Baby". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1596874/20081013/mia__4_.jhtml. Retrieved 23 August 2010. 
  19. ↑ Herndon, Jessica; Jones, Oliver (14 February 2009). "M.I.A.: It's a B.O.Y!". People. Time. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20259314,00.html. Retrieved 14 February 2009. 
  20. ↑ Mumbi Moody, Nikesa. "M.I.A. Gives Birth Days After Grammy Performance". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/14/mia-gives-birth-days-afte_n_167016.html?page=2&show_comment_id=20885736#comment_20885736. Retrieved 12 August 2010. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Gibbons, Fiachra (30 November 2002). "Crucified artist up for Alternative Turner Prize". The Guardian (London: Guardian Media Group). http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/nov/30/arts.artsnews2. Retrieved 28 December 2008. 
  22. ↑ Weiner, Jonah (January/February 2005). "The Next Best Thing! M.I.A.". Blender. http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=1405. Retrieved 25 February 2007. 
  23. ↑ "M.I.A.: The Pocko Art Collection". Pocko Editions. 6 August 2006. http://www.pocko.com/2006/08/06/pocko-collection-series-3/. Retrieved 13 May 2007. 
  24. ↑ "John Singleton - M.I.A. once eyed a career as a film-maker". Contactmusic.com. 4 October 2005. http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/mia%20once%20eyed%20a%20career%20as%20a%20film-maker. Retrieved 20 August 2006. 
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Robert Epstein, Daniel (29 December 2005). "Interview: M.I.A.". SuicideGirls. http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/M.I.A./. Retrieved 20 August 2006. 
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Luella Bartley & M.I.A.". Nirali Magazine. 11 August 2006. 
  27. ↑ Binielli, Mark (15 December 2005). ""Guerrilla Goddess"". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/8957274/mi. Retrieved 6 September 2010. 
  28. ↑ "Bird Flu - M.I.A.". San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. 8 July 2007. http://filmguide.festival.asianamericanmedia.org/tixSYS/2008/filmguide/director.php/detail/?AlphaRange=MM&ShowShorts=Y&ShowPast=Y. Retrieved 19 October 2007. 
  29. ↑ "Boyz / M.I.A. / Music Video". MTV. 27 June 2007. http://www.mtv.com/videos/mia/159174/boyz.jhtml. Retrieved 19 February 2009. 
  30. ↑ Catucci, Nick (1 July 2009). "M.I.A.-Directed Video a Kaleidoscopic Kick in the Head". New York Magazine. http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/07/mia-directed_video_a_kaleidosc.html. Retrieved 7 September 2010. 
  31. ↑ "M.I.A. :Video : XXXO". Interscope. 11 August 2010. http://www.interscope.com/artist/player/default.aspx?meid=6017&aid=555. Retrieved 7 September 2010. 
  32. ↑ Lipshutz, Jason (30 July 2010). "Billboard Bits: M.I.A. Becomes a Film Judge, OZZFest Offers 'Unholy' Marriages". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/news/billboard-bits-m-i-a-becomes-a-film-judge-1004107037.story#/news/billboard-bits-m-i-a-becomes-a-film-judge-1004107037.story. Retrieved 12 August 2010. 
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Pearson, Gemma (2004). ""M.I.A."". Fused Magazine. http://www.fusedmagazine.com/Past_Issues/Issue_21/M+26+2346+3bI+26+2346+3bA+26+2346+3b.aspx. Retrieved 4 September 2007. 
  34. ↑ Garcia, Nicholas (July 24, 2007). "M.I.A. - "Boyz"". Drowned in Sound. http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/2232852. Retrieved 9 September 2007. 
  35. ↑ Frere Jones, Sasha (22 November 2004). "Bingo in Swansea: Maya Arulpragsam’s world". The New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/11/22/041122crmu_music. Retrieved 24 May 2008. 
  36. ↑ Sung, Hannah. "M.I.A. Is Back in Action". AOL Music Canada. http://music.aol.ca/article/MIA/130/. Retrieved 27 August 2007. 
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Pytlik, Mark (14 March 2005). "Interview: M.I.A.". Pitchforkmedia. http://web.archive.org/web/20050317044856/www.pitchforkmedia.com/interviews/m/mia-05/. Retrieved 12 April 2006. 
  38. ↑ "M.I.A.: Arular". Tiny Mix Tapes. 2005. http://www.tinymixtapes.com/musicreviews/m/mia.htm. Retrieved 6 May 2007. 
  39. ↑ Peters, Mitchell (5 September 2005). "M.I.A.". Pollstar. http://www.pollstar.com/news/viewhotstar.pl?Artist=MIA. Retrieved 30 March 2006. 
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Metacritic (31 December 2005). "M.I.A.: Arular (2005): Reviews". MetaCritic. http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/mia/arular. Retrieved 24 February 2007. 
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 41.3 Ali, Lorraine (20 November 2008). "M.I.A.: With a Rebel Yell". Spin. http://www.spin.com/articles/mia-rebel-yell. Retrieved 12 August 2010. 
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Simmons, Will. "M.I.A.". Stylus Magazine. http://www.stylusmagazine.com/feature.php?ID=1941. Retrieved 22 November 2007. 
  43. ↑ Reeves, Jackson (10 April 2008). "Exclusive Interview with M.I.A.". The Miscellany News (Vassar College). http://misc.vassar.edu/archives/2008/04/exclusive_inter.html. Retrieved 6 July 2008. 
  44. ↑ ""Antics TV: Music & Sound: M.I.A. in New Orleans"". Antics TV. May 2008. http://www.uptheantics.com/antics-tv/music_entry/mia_in_new_orleans_3_of_3/. Retrieved 6 October 2008. 
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  46. ↑ Lindsay, Cam (2007). ""M.I.A.’s Outsider Art "". Exclaim!. http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=114&csid2=946&fid1=27365. Retrieved 18 September 2007. 
  47. ↑ "M.I.A. - Front line". Vibe. 24 May 2005. http://www.vibe.com/news/magazine_features/2005/05/vibe_magazine_next_mia_front_line/. Retrieved 16 December 2007. 
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  49. ↑ "Coldplay, NIN Top Coachella With Emotional Performances". MTV. 2 May 2005. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1501113/20050502/coldplay.jhtml. Retrieved 1 October 2007. 
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  53. ↑ Forrest, Emma (4 September 2005). "MIA, Myself and I". Guardian Unlimited Arts (London). http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,11710,1562109,00.html. Retrieved 19 April 2006. 
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  124. ↑ Benigno, Anthony (16 June 2010). "M.I.A.: New album was inspired by death threats to my son, Ikhyd, after I criticized Sri Lanka". Daily News. New York. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2010/06/16/2010-06-16_mia_new_album_was_inspired_by_death_threats_to_my_son_ikhyd_after_i_criticized_s.html. Retrieved 22 June 2010. 
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  127. ↑ Harpers and Queen, 2005.
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  130. ↑ Ulaby, Neda. "From Elvis To Lady Gaga: Playing With Shock Value In Music". NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127239101. Retrieved 12 August 2010. 
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  142. ↑ "‘The Official Soundclash Championships’ at the Bloomsbury Ballroom". Run-Riot. 9 June 2009. http://www.run-riot.com/Soundclash. Retrieved 24 August 2010. 
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  149. ↑ Friction, Bobby (March 6 2009). "We Won! Best Radio Show 2009 UK AMA's". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/friction/2009/03/we_won_best_radio_show_2009_uk.html. Retrieved 24 August 2010. 

Books and further reading

External links

M.I.A.
Studio albums
Arular · Kala · Maya
Mixtapes
Piracy Funds Terrorism
EPs
Live Session · How Many Votes Fix Mix
Singles
"Galang" · "Sunshowers" · "Bucky Done Gun" · "Boyz" · "Jimmy" · "Paper Planes" · "XXXO"
Featured singles
"Sound of Kuduro" · "O…Saya"
Other songs
"Bird Flu" · "Born Free"
Tours
Arular Tour · Kala Tour · People vs. Money Tour · /\/\/\Y/\ Tour
Related articles
Discography · N.E.E.T Recordings