andPOP » M.I.A.

WWW Episode 1: M.I.A. Fingers America At The Super Bowl

andPOP Staff — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:12:12 +0000

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In our very first episode of The World Wide World, Paul Murphy takes to the streets to investigate the controversy following Super Bowl XLVI.

We’re not exactly sure where he found his sources for this story, but he clearly missed Madonna’s half time performance. Shockingly, most of the people Paul spoke to had no idea what the fuss was about either.

How do the citizens of Toronto feel about M.I.A.’s actions? Were they too explicit for mainstream media?

Watch the first installment of our new weekly series The World Wide World below:

M.I.A. tells America to F-off With Middle Finger

andPOP Staff — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:02:05 +0000

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Every Super Bowl we practically look for something to scandalize us, and this year M.I.A.’s finger flip is the new wardrobe malfunction. As if M.I.A. didn’t make her message clear enough while rapping the verse “I don’t give a sh**” she literally gave America the middle finger during last night’s halftime performance with Madonna. Many are calling it premeditated because she looked directly at the camera. Gasp!

Inevitably the move raised profound questions: Why does M.I.A. hate us? Does she actually want us to F-off or was this a publicity stunt? Was this her opportunity to make an obscure political statement?

Or — and I know this might sound crazy — maybe she was just swept up in the moment, as they say. Whatever the reason, many online commentators are questioning if she’ll ever be allowed to appear on live TV again.

Statements are being issued all over the place. In one corner, the NFL issued an apology for the “completely inappropriate gesture,” while NBC took a more diplomatic route, apologizing that their delay system failed to catch the spontaneous brush off — so not taking much responsibility at all.

Still, the people M.I.A. ought to be worried about are the concerned parents of America. Although her finger is no more scandalous than things you’d find on any prime time show, the Parents’ Television Council is calling it a cheap way to get attention. They claim the moment was a slap in the face and (cue ominous music) that “the nation — and the PTC — is watching.” Cue ominous music: dum, dum, dum.

There’s still no word on how next year’s performer plans to up MIA. Do you have any ideas? Let us know below.

WATCH: Madonna Perform at the Super Bowl Half-Time Show

Natalia Buia — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:03:08 +0000

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When Madonna agreed to perform at the half-time show last night, she promised fans “the greatest show on earth in the middle of the greatest show on earth”.

Not that many people knew what to expect, other than a medley of her old, classic songs and a performance with M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj.

She began her set with “Vogue”, as she was being carried by an army of gladiators to the stage. She sang (or rather, lip synced) “Express Yourself”, “Like a Prayer” with Cee Lo Green and “Music” with LMFAO.

When it was time to perform her newest, “Give Me All Your Luvin’”, Nicki and M.I.A. joined her on stage, dressed as some sort of Egyptian cheerleaders.

My favourite performance has to be her duet with Cee Lo, which was saved for last. A choir of a hundred people joined the two on stage and when the song finished, “WORLD PEACE” was seen lit on the stadium. Aw, shucks!

Watch the 13-minute long set below.

WATCH: New Madonna Video ‘Give Me All Your Luvin’ ft. M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj

Natalia Buia — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:28:38 +0000

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Damn! M.I.A. is on a roll today. Her other music video featuring Madonna and Nicki Minaj has also been released today.

M.I.A. and Nicki act as Madonna’s cheerleaders in her comeback song. All three look amazing — Madonna more so when she’s fully clothes — as they are roaming the streets, being carried off by football players.

This is a great lead up to their Superbowl performance this Sunday night.

The song itself is very corny and playful. It could easily be placed in an iPod commercial. It’s that catchy. See for yourself.

WATCH: M.I.A.’s New Video, ‘Bad Girl’

Natalia Buia — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:38:04 +0000

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A lot of amazing videos have come out today and M.I.A.’s “Bad Girl” is no exception.

The English rapper takes “The Fast and the Furious” to Morrocco, where the video takes place.

Billboard calls it “an interesting take on culture, blending lyrics about having sex in cars with Americanized imagery of Moroccan culture”.

The track was produced by Danja, one of Timbaland’s apprentices. This song will definitely be featured on M.I.A.’s upcoming album set to be released in the summer. Expect more divine Danja-produced songs on it.

Madonna Releases Teaser Video For ‘MDNA’

Natalia Buia — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:40:20 +0000

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The queen of pop never rests. If she’s not touring, she’s directing movies, and if she’s not attending screenings, she’s in the studio with prestigious producers.

Hot off her Golden Globe win for Best Song, Madonna’s about to drop her latest album, “MDNA”. Notable Parisian DJ/producer Martin Solveig is behind her all the way, as is M.I.A., who performs on a few tracks herself.

Madonna’s team just released a super short video of the trio in a New York studio last November. It’s nice to see Madonna loosen up and have fun with wild child M.I.A. It’s an odd pairing but we might be in for a pleasant surprise.

M.I.A. Releases Track In Memory of Amy Winehouse

Elisheva Baer — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:28:17 +0000

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While many celebrities Tweet away their condolences for the terrible loss of talented singer Amy Winehouse, M.I.A. has taking paying homage to the next level.

The singer/songwriter has announced that she has released her unfinished track, “27,” to honour the late 27-year-old. The song, which she named after the “27 Club,” references all the talented musicians who have died at age 27, such as Kimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrision, Brian Jones, and Janis Joplin.

According to Perez Hilton, many have mixed reviews as to whether the release is premature, or if it is touching and thoughtful. Regardless, we think it is a very nice thing that M.I.A. is doing and we commend her greatly.

Listen to M.I.A.’s track below.

Ginger Kid from M.I.A. Video Found

andPOP Staff — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:44:53 +0000

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If you haven’t seen the controversial M.I.A. video, you are missing out on a very controversial music video.

In one of the scenes, a young redheaded boy has his head blown off by law enforcement who have rounded up all the male redheads. However don’t fear as he is not really dead! The good people at TMZ have located the young man named Ian Hamrick and he is alive and well.

In the video below, the paparazzi ask the kid and his Mom why they agreed to get involved with the production, and their thoughts on the controversy.

Angry M.I.A. Tweets After Violent New Video Pulled From YouTube

Sara Harowitz — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 01:26:45 +0000

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Sri Lankan-born hip hop singer M.I.A. got angry at her label via Twitter when her violent music video for “Born Free” was deleted from YouTube just hours after its release yesterday (April 26), reports E!Online.

“F— UMG WHO WON’T SHOW IT ON YOUTUBE! FOR THE U.S.,” the singer, real name Mathangi Arulpragasam, tweeted (UMG stands for her label, Universal Music Group). Still, she quickly took back the statement when she found out that it was YouTube itself, not Universal Music, that took the video down: “OK, NOT UMG FAULT!,” she tweeted next.

Directed by Romain Gavras, the video portrays the United States as a fascist state, showing a S.W.A.T. team’s raid of a downtown Los Angeles apartment building. The cops round up redheaded men, then take them to the desert and execute them in extreme ways: one boy is shot straight-on in the head, another is blown up by a bomb.

Apparently, though, it was the level of violence, and not the political views, that got the video taken from YouTube, with a representative saying the video violated the site’s terms of use due to “gratuitous violence.”

M.I.A. recently told Britain’s Radio 1 that “Born Free” “was the first [song] recorded for the album” and that “at the time [of recording], a lot of things were bottled up. It was a good start.”

The singer has never been afraid to stir up controversy and has often been the victim of criticism for her views.

Even though the video can no longer be found on YouTube, it is still streaming on her official website. Her new, still-untitled album is due out in June. Here’s the tracklist, thanks to a tweet by Pitchfork:

1. “The Message”
2. “Born Free”
3. “Meds and Feds”
4. Lovealot”
5. Tequilla”
6. “It Is What It Is”
7. “XXXO”
8. “Tell Me Why”
9. “Story Told”
10. “Space”

M.I.A. Disses Lady Gaga and Twilight

Angelina Irinici — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 15:22:27 +0000

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We all know M.I.A. is talented, unique and intellectual with her lyrics, but we didn’t know she was such a hater. Dose.ca reports that she had a few words of her own on what everyone raves about today: Lady Gaga and Twilight – in her NME cover interview. And, she is also expected to drop a new album in the next few months, but that wasn’t a hot topic in comparison to her running her mouth about Gaga.

The outspoken MC brings up Lady Gaga three times in her Q&A, and not because it was a Q, or to give the fellow singer props.

Instead, the 34-year-old outlandish MC said exactly what she thought of the equally out-there Gaga.

“None of her music’s reflective of how weird she wants to be or thinks she is,” said M.I.A.

When asked, “Do we still need record labels?” M.I.A. brought up the pop star again.

Her response: “Are they even interested in making money from music anymore? Lady Gaga plugs 15 things in her new video. Dude, she even plugs a burger! That’s probably how they’re making money right now – buying up the burger joint, putting the burger in a music video and making loads of burger money.”

M.I.A. continues to diss Gaga, and this time about the web’s effect on a pop star’s ability to build tradition. The two are somewhat comparable, with their quirky sense of style, but M.I.A. clearly had an issue with that.

“Again, there’s Lady Gaga,” she begins. “People say we’re similar, that we both mix all these things and spit them out differently, but she spits it out exactly the same! None of her music’s reflective of how weird she wants to be or thinks she is.”

She continues, “She models herself on Grace Jones and Madonna, but the music sounds like 20-year-old Ibiza music, you know?

And a bit more from the passionate M.I.A.:

“She’s not progressive, but she’s a good mimic. She sounds more like me than I f*cking do! That’s a talent and she’s got a great team behind her, but she’s the industry last’s stab at making itself important – saying, ‘You need our money behind you, the endorsements, the stadiums.’ Respect to her, she’s keeping a hundred thousand people in work, but my belief is: Do It Yourself.”

Hate Gaga and love M.I.A., or vice verca, or both – there are points to be made about the music industry in general by the political and global-minded M.I.A.

The MC also had time to quip about Twilight, she revealed she’d been asked to contribute to the movie’s soundtrack but turned them down. Her label head Jimmy Iovine had her back.

“[He] had beef with the Twilight people, so he stepped back in and told them to f*ck off,” she said.

Be expecting M.I.A.’s new album to drop in the next few months since she cancelled the last leg of her tour to work on the album.

M.I.A. Books First Post-Pregnancy Performance

Eva Lam — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 21:43:34 +0000

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Pop sensation M.I.A. has been added to the lineup for the upcoming Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, her first confirmed public appearance since the birth of her son last month.

Organizers say the performer, who played the festival in 2005 and again last year, will take the stage on Saturday, April 18.

She joins other late additions to the bill after Amy Winehouse was forced to cancel her appearance. Recently added performers include Devendra Banhart, The Chemical Brothers, The Orb and Etienne de Crecy.

This year’s Coachella, headlined by Sir Paul McCartney, The Killers and The Cure, will run from April 17 to 19 in Indio, California.

M.I.A. memorably took the stage at the Feb. 8 Grammy Awards on her due date, performing “Swagga Like Us” alongside Jay-Z, T.I., Lil Wayne and Kanye West. She gave birth to a baby boy three days later.

M.I.A.’s Baby Boy Is Not Named Ickitt

Joelle Tomlinson — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:03:17 +0000

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Contrary to a report from Latina magazine, M.I.A. did not name her baby Ickitt.

The singer just posted the following message on her official blog:

“BABY NAME!
MY BABY IS NOT CALLED ICKITT, PICKIT OR LICKIT THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO ALL THE HOLLYWOOD PRESS. HES A BABY , HE DONT NEED PRESS!

I DIDNT RELEASE THE BABY NAME BECAUSE I DIDNT THINK IT WAS NEWS!!!!

BUT I WILL BE BACK WITH SOMETHING NEWS WORTHY SOON , TILL THEN GO PICK ON APPLE, SATCHEL AND MOON UNIT.

LOTS OF LOVE STICKIT!!”

M.I.A.’s boy was born February 11. Before giving birth she blogged: “MY EARLY STAGE LABOUR KICKED IN AROUND 2 AM … MY BABY WAS BORN WEDNESDAY (FEBRUARY 11). HE IS HEALTHY, FINE, BEAUTIFUL AND THE MOST AMAZING THING EVER ON THIS PLANET, OF COURSE IM HIS MUM!!!”

It can be remembered that M.I.A. performed at the Grammys when she was nine months pregnant. The “Paper Planes” rapper famously performed “Swagga Like Us” with Jay-Z, T.I., Lil Wayne and Kanye West at the February 8 event.

M.I.A. Gives Birth To Boy

Joelle Tomlinson — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 18:18:28 +0000

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British rap artist M.I.A gave birth to a baby boy on February 12. His name has not been released to the press yet. M.I.A., 31, graced the stage of the Grammy’s Award Show on her due date, giving a spectacular performance of “Swagga Like Us” with hip-hop icons Jay-Z, TI, Lil Wayne and Kanye West. According to hollyscoop.com, her fiance Benjamin Brewer said she started having contractions right before she hit the stage so a waiting car rushed her off to the hospital after the performance.

Interviewed on the red carpet, M.I.A told reporters , “It doesn’t matter to me if it’s a boy or a girl. If it’s a girl she will be a tough girl, but I think I may have a boy because I have a pointy stomach.” When Desi Hits asked M.I.A. what she hopes to teach her child, she replied with, “I would teach my child tons of things. I want my child to see third world countries, and be humble about what she or he has, and have sound judgement.”

The rap artist is scheduled to perform at the Oscar’s in two weeks, and there is speculation over whether she will be well enough to attend. Given her boasted reputation as a ‘tough girl’ and energetic appearance at the Grammy’s, it will not surprise anyone to see her performing with vigor at the upcoming awards show.

M.I.A. Moving To Montreal?

andPOP Staff — Tue, 27 May 2008 09:25:41 +0000

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Rapper M.I.A. may be moving to Montreal when her American visa expires in June.

Because her father was once a soldier in the Sri Lankan terrorist organization Tamil Tigers, she doesn’t expect her visa to be renewed.

“Basically at the moment I can choose between Montreal and London,” she told Baby Baby Baby magzine. “My mum’s like, ‘I want you here!’ I haven’t seen her in, like, forever, so I have to choose between my mum and Montreal.”

She said that she’s been making the most of her final U.S. concerts, and that Kanye West has offered to marry her to keep her in the country.

She was previously barred entrance to the States in 2006.

M.I.A. To Launch Clothing Line

Eva Lam — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:43:01 +0000

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M.I.A. is reportedly getting ready to come out with her own clothing line.

According to fashion blog Trashbag Aesthetics, the MC/producer is designing bomber jackets, leggings and t-shirts that will feature bold colours and graphic prints reminiscent of her own signature style.

No name or date has been set for the collection as of yet.

M.I.A., real name Maya Arulpragasam, has already established herself as a creative force outside of her music. She’s designed album covers, acted as art director for music videos and held an exhibition of paintings in London in 2001, which was nominated for the Alternative Turner Prize.

The 29-year-old also modelled this year for Marc, the spring/summer 2008 campaign by Marc Jacobs.

Game Review: American Girl: Mia Goes for Great

andPOP Staff — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 18:10:37 +0000

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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a 10-year-old girl and an amateur figure skater? To do single or even double axels in front of a crowd of dozens of people at your local arena? How great it would be to compete at the regional level. Well wonder no more thanks to THQ’s newest addition to the American Girl series, American Girl: Mia Goes for Great, which lets you fulfil all of your craziest 10-year-old-girl-figure-skating inspired fantasies.

Before I continue, I ask that anyone reading this that actually has 10-year-old-girl-figure-skating inspired fantasies stop immediately and seek professional help. It’s weird and not socially acceptable. That having been said, my introduction was clearly sarcasm and an attempt to point out the fact that it is a poor concept for a video game that no one in their right mind would want to play.

And I know what you’re thinking, I get it all the time, the game is not targeted towards me and hence my opinion is biased and as a result I fail to grasp all the subtle genius which this game provides. You couldn’t be more wrong.

While it’s true that I am not the game’s target demographic, that I probably double if not triple the game’s intended audience, such children’s games aren’t really marketed at children at all. Ultimately, these video games are targeted towards the parents whose final stamp of approval is on every single piece of detritus that makes it into a child’s hand. And I would not want this game in the hands of my child. Maybe not the best argument considering I don’t have children, but hear me out anyways.

Mia St. Clair is a 10-year-old girl from a lower-middle class family growing up in up-state New York and aspires to be a figure skater. Mia has three brothers, Perry, Rick and Skip (generic enough?), all of which play hockey. Mia overcomes all the obstacles she encounters with cunning and wit and manages to turn an enemy into a friend in the process. She makes it all the way to regionals (along with everyone else she originally competes against) and wins the competition, at which point the game ends and tries to entice you into playing again. Total play time, two and a half hours.

The worst part about the story is that the player is constantly reminded of how little money this family has and structures the entire game around this fact (which is ironic considering that American Girl dolls retail for around $90 USD each. Maybe rich kids want to know what it’s like to not have a lot of money?).

Every major obstacle that Mia encounters is money related and is resolved by people giving her free stuff in exchange for the completion of some meaningless task or answering some trivia question.

All Mia wants to do is figure skate, but in order to do so she has do what feels like dozens of fetch quests just to get on the ice to practice.

My least favourite time spent with Mia was her gig working as a sewing store mascot in order to get material for her costume. I was required to tell at least 10 people of a holiday special and sing a tune which is not very pleasant.

Once you’ve done all the require tasks which include picking your costume (which you don’t actually get to do), pick your music (again, not up to you), and fix your skates (answer some figure skating trivia), you’re finally ready to design your routine. This is where the fun begins… kidding, there is no fun to be found in this game.

Designing your routine consists of dragging possible manoeuvres into numbered slots indicating the order of your tricks. The only freedom you have is choosing the order in which your tricks will appear in your routine, as there are rules that dictate what has to be included. Once all the required tricks have been added you’re ready to begin practice, which brings us to the next big problem with the game. The figure skating.

In order to perform the tricks which you have chosen for your routine, you simply hit one of the directional buttons within the time limit and the trick is performed right in front of your eyes… Are you serious? I am supposed to feel like a figure skater by pressing a key within an allotted amount of time? The challenge level is zero. The most difficult trick requires the player to press the direction key twice in the same direction or once in opposite directions. That’s really all there is to say about that. That is the closest the game gets to any form of action. What’s worse is that when you win the first competition, you get to do the exact same tasks that you had to do before, with a few boring additions.

Mia uses Blizzard’s Diablo style of movement and really doesn’t add anything to the mix. Players simply point and click on the screen or use directional buttons to navigate the quietest, most desolate town ever depicted in a video game. The single map includes a library, garage, pizza place, your house, an arena, and sewing store. The town has a population of 12 characters who you can only interact with by talking if you have something to say to them or need. No shooting the shit with these characters.

As for graphics, there’s really not much to say. Nothing in the town moves, come to think of it, nothing in the entire game moves other than yourself and maybe the occasional blinking of an eye or moving of the head by one of the NPC’s. The game uses a mix of animated and real life graphics which fails to captivate the details of a real person and the exaggerated features of an animated character and the result is the most vanilla looking character models I have ever seen.

Dialogue trees are bland and really cheesy. A snooze fest all around. I do however appreciate that the writers didn’t subject me too many bad puns or jokes.

With that as evidence, I rest my case your honour. American Girl: Mia Goes for Great is another attempt by publishers to cash in on a popular franchise without delivering a quality product. A game this linear, where players are given absolutely no freedom other than that of choosing which order tasks are completed, is a waste of time and money. Even the low price point seems too steep to purchase this game which is good for nothing more than to serve as a coaster. Buy them some candy, or put the money in their education fund, but don’t waste it on this game. If your children are really interested in learning about figure skating, read them a book, or sit them in front of a Wikipedia entry, they will have more fun, I promise.

Graphics: 0.5 / 5.0
Gameplay 0 / 5.0
Sound 1 / 5.0
Replay value 0 / 5.0

M.I.A., Holy Fuck Team Up For Tour

Eva Lam — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:01:58 +0000

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British alternative/hip-hop/dancehall artist M.I.A. is hitting the road for a North American tour next month, and Toronto’s Holy Fuck will join her for a bunch of shows.

M.I.A. (real name Maya Arulpragasam) kicks off her tour April 11 in Poughkeepsie, New York, while electro-rockers Holy Fuck will spend most of the month playing a string of European dates.

The two acts will meet up in late April as performers at this year’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. From there, they’ll head out together for 10 shows in late April, early May and early June, including dates in Toronto and Montreal.

M.I.A. is touring behind her sophomore album, “Kala,” which was released last August and has sold more than 100,000 copies worldwide. It also topped Rolling Stone’s list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.

Holy Fuck’s debut full-length, “LP,” was released last October. It reached #1 on the Canadian campus radio chart in January and is nominated for best alternative album at the upcoming Juno Awards.

Here are the dates where you can catch M.I.A. and Holy Fuck together:

04-25-27 Indio, CA – Coachella
04-28 San Diego, CA – 4th and B
05-01 Austin, TX – La Zona Rosa
05-02 Dallas, TX – Palladium Ballroom
05-05 Nashville, TN – City Hall
05-06 Atlanta, GA – The Tabernacle
05-08 Detroit, MI – Fillmore
05-09 Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom
06-02 Toronto, Ontario – Sound Academy
06-03 Montreal, Quebec – Metropolis
06-06 Brooklyn, NY – McCarren Park Pool

Feist, Arcade Fire, Stars Nominated for Shortlist Music Prize

andPOP Staff — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 05:36:33 +0000

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Just three of the 54 albums nominated for this year’s Shortlist Music Prize are by Canadian artists, reports ChartAttack.com.

The award is handed out for the best album released in the U.S. between January and November of last year that sold less than 500,000 copies domestically. Albums from 48 different labels and nine countries were nominated by Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol, Ronnie Vannucci of The Killers and four radio personalities.

Lucky Canucks Feist, Arcade Fire and Stars will duke it out against the likes of Bjork, Justice, M.I.A., The Hives and Wilco. Previous winners include Sufjan Stevens, Damien Rice and N*E*R*D.