Do you remember the first time?

The first time I saw M.I.A. it really was one of those moments, those, 'this is different, this is fresh' moments.

It was about three or four years ago and I was watching MTV Base before it totally wacked out. Out of the dirge of bleeting r'n'b and other junk they were playing at the time this video came on. (Just as a side note, they should play more Hip-Hop and Grime/UK 'Urban' stuff on 'Base'. You can see RnB everywhere and hear it enough from the back of the bus)



It was seemed so different from anything else that was round at the time. The world wasn't as 'hipster' (I don't like that word but I cant think of anything better to describe the culture of cool I think exists now) orientated at the time, so it didn't seem like 'calculated cool' it was just weird and interesting, the more I heard it, the more I really liked it. I think at first I tried in my head to put it in a genre (which I don't like doing - and couldn't), many years later, she is still one of very few artists that you can't pin down to one genre or trend. She actually says in Sunshowers "Can't stereotype my thing, yo!"

Of course M.I.A. really blew up, (figuratively speaking) last summer with her second album Kala. Both of her albums bring back good memories for me, but I'd say I prefer Kala a bit more, the Clash sampling Paper Planes was a bit unavoidable for a bit and justifiably. Also Bucky Done Gun, is a big tune from Arular.



I think M.I.A. is great. She's original, and has a really fresh approach. She and her producers make music thats like an amalgamation of every good bit of lot sof styles. Her vocal style is really unique, thinking about it now, its a bit like a punk slur sometimes - I reckon many will bite soon. Also one really good thing about M.I.A. is she has a social/political conscious and base to her music is without ramming it down your throat while not also not dumming down her message. There's no real video for this song but I think this song is the best example of what I just said and one of my personal fav-our--ritesssssssss. 20 Dollar:



XL isn't paying me to write this or anything, Maya Arulpragasam, unlike the many over hyped artists/bands of today, deserves plaudits.

YES.

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Again, come on the Chels, this is the day! Thanks Syd for showing us the sights!