Pop Politics

This has been a curious decade for popular music. We have seen the decline of the album and the rise of the MP3. We’ve gawked at Radiohead giving away their album for free, struggled between joy and guilt over music downloads, and been bored to death by new trends and bands and sounds which didn’t eventually amount to much. Many of us have trawled through cyberspace and radio for a sound that is completely original. Now, we may just have found it.

I am referring to M.I.A. aka Maya Arulpragasam, a woman of our times. Born a Sri Lankan Tamil, and living in exile in the UK, M.I.A.’s sound is a spellbinding mix of hip hop, third world politics, South Indian film music, pop hooks, Clash samples and some of the most prescient lyrics of recent times. If pop music is an itch that you can’t stop scratching, then M.I.A.’s second album Kala is the ultimate talcum-reacher. Her father was an activist for Tamil independence in Sri Lanka, and as a child, she and her mother fled the island as refugees. Needless to say, her tumultuous history is reflected in her work— both her albums, Arular (2005) and Kala (2007) are intensely political. Arular, named after her father, became a hit solely on the basis of free online file sharing of her music. Kala, named after her mother, has hit large and immediately.

It’s M.I.A.’s sound that is her entry point, like all good hip hop. Besides Kanye West and Lil’ Wayne, it is hard to think of a contemporary with as rich a palette. On Kala the beats are as wide-ranging as her taste— from South Indian folk drums to the faux disco of Jimmy (sampling the ’80s Bollywood hit Disco Dancer). Working with ranking hip-hop producers like Timbaland to Switch and Diplo, her sound goes from the pre-teen raps of Mango Pickle Down River to the hot, dusty African rhythms of Hussel. She finds musical empathy in cultures far removed from her own, but with similar problems—displacement, exploitation, crime and persecution. She tackles it all, and her love for mango pickle, in her own charming, irreverent style.

M.I.A.’s no great vocalist by conventional standards. But the casualness of her voice heightens the seriousness of her lyrics. The opening track Bamboo Banga subverts the Johnathan Richman anthem Roadrunner to depict Third World freestylists— slumdogs if you will—baiting tourists roaring past in their Hummers. On the Clash-sampling Paper Planes, she discusses visa problems, her outspoken political stance and sets herself up as the inheritor of rebel punk music by brazenly declaring “All I wanna do is (gunshots) and (sound of a cash-register) take your money.” There’s nothing safe about M.I.A.

Perhaps the best song on Kala is Bird Flu—she threatens to breed flucarrying chickens to wage war on all oppressors, economic and political. Looking sexism in the eye, she declares “Jumpin’ girl to girl, make us meat like burgers, when I get fat, I’ll pop me out some leaders,” over rollicking Tamil drums. The first has already been popped. Last month she became a mother. She recently collaborated with A.R. Rahman on the soundtrack to the multi-Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire. She’s got the goods alright.

U2 Get on Your Boots Every five years, you will be bopping to a new track by these gents.

Antony and The Johnsons Epilepsy is Dancing An early contender for record of the year

Adele Hometown Glory Her husky voice and soul stylings have won her a Grammy this year.

A.R. Rehman Jai Ho Well, after the success of Slumdog Millionaire, this song can’t be missed.

BLUR Parklife The Brit Poppers have re-united. Good reason to get back to this old chestnut.