M.I.A. Outraged At New York Times… And Possibly Leaks New Song?
By Seraphina L.
It was just yesterday when we excitedly told you about a new M.I.A. album possibly coming in the summer, but it was also yesterday that M.I.A. completely slammed the New York Times on her twitter account.
Twitter accounts may not mean anything to people who don’t use it as a news source. We understand that you may not care if your favorite is making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. However, M.I.A. may have provided her followers (including some of us!) with one of the worst Twitter experiences yesterday afternoon. The first tweet from the rapper/singer stated, “FUCK NEW YORK TIMES!!!” but the angry statement was not unaccompanied.
Apparently M.I.A. found the New York Times article that listed “The 31 Places To Go In 2010” online and went ballistic when she saw they had listed her home country, Sri Lanka, as one of the locations. Her second tweet similarly exclaimed, “FUCK NEW YORK TIMES! DO YOU THINK YOU NEED TO GO HERE ON VACATION?” and included a link to very grotesque and very graphic photos of deaths which included young children. Her last tweet (there were five) shouted, “ONCE AGAIN FUCK NEW YORK TIMES !!!!!!!!! GET YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT.” (If you’re willing to feel sick to your stomach, you can just google her twitter.)
Sri Lanka only recently ended a brutal civil war where many lives were taken, and M.I.A. has always spoken out on political issues that hit close to home. According to Pitchfork, her father was also a political activist for the Tigers.
We understand M.I.A.’s point – The New York Times had huge oversight in putting that list together. We also know that she doesn’t want people to “think thinking’s a dirty word” but for those who had weak stomachs, her unexpected photos were also considered unnecessary.
However angry she was, we are now also wondering how long she stayed angry for. Today, following those vehement tweets from the day before, she tweeted a video for a song called, “Theres Space For Ol Dat I See.” It’s a very rough video of possibly M.I.A. dancing herself, and we’re sure everyone is excited to hear new material but man, that was a very quick change of mood.
Check it out below:
Either M.I.A. is a stronger person that we thought she was yesterday or she is just done dealing with who she thinks is ignorant and choosing to move on with work. She’s proven two things: She’s not afraid to express her thoughts and she DOES sing more on this album! (At least in this song.)
What do you think of M.I.A.’s possible new song… and what do you think of her reactions to NYT yesterday?
Wednesday, January 13, 2010 8:51AM
I gotta be honest hear; the statements made by MIA in regards to the New York Times article seem grossly misguided.
As you said, the Times ignored the civil disputes within the Sri Lankan region to promote the tourism of the country. Yet, MIA seemed to equate her political beliefs with anything published about the country. Her logical fallacies are outstanding — She's outraged at the publication for publishing the article because she believes in the position of the Tamil Tigers. The point is, her beliefs have nothing to do with tourism. Nothing.
It's the equivalent of saying Michael Vick is a bad football player because of his crimes against dogs. I do not condone the actions of Vick, The Tamil Tigers or the Sri Lankan government, but the article has nothing to do with the issue.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010 9:16AM
MIA's father was explosives expert for the Tamil Tigers. She is pissed off that the Tamil Tiger terrorist were defeated in Sri Lanka. She doesn't want any positive press for those poor people on that island. New York Times, thankfully are not biased nor do they share her extremist views. It's time to expose MIA for what she really is.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010 8:05PM
For god sake this is about promoting the nature of the country! Handle it MIA!
Thursday, February 25, 2010 12:19PM
Sri Lanka is a rich cultural melting pot, MIA has never mentioned in her interviews anything about the positive side of Sri Lanka's diverse past…due to colonialism the Portuguese,Dutch,English and other European countries all been to Sri Lanka…sinhalese and tamils are so diverse..it was was the english who in th first place brought the small tamil population from the southern part of India "Tamil Nadu"..years on it is the Tamil Tigers(LTTE terroist group) who want to divide Sri Lanka all that ignorant people such as MIA do is stirr up more political problems for Sri Lankans all over the world…if MIA actually talked about something positive, for example the fact that Sri lankans are united, even through civil war, in Sri Lanka (sinhalese/tamils/buddhists/catholics/christians/muslims all live & work together on that tiny island together) sri lanka has so much beauty in its rich artistic history due to all the different ethnicities which have been there…every country has political struggles, the middle east is far worse off than Sri Lanka…or in Australia, the indigenous aboriginal tribal communities have been ruined due to Europeans interference…right now if u read the current sri lakan news the country has worked hard to finally reach peace, but off course this is not good enough for MIA ,she just a one-sided, narrow minded brat who just makes noise always about the bad, plus if she really wants to help Sri lankans instead of complianing so much she needs to actually go to Sri lanka and help the people, there is no good in her jus shouting about some comments in a newspaper..she is a classic attention seeker making noise to get more popular..she is bad representation for the Sri Lankan people..it is mostly westerners who support her because they know little abt the true struggles of the sri lankan people/history…In regards to her music, she always samples and rips off other artists, for example tht song paper planes is only a catchy tune because she took the music from the song "Straight to Hell" by the Clash..i have no respect for wannabe artists tht get credit from other artist's genuine talents…originality in the arts is soo rare these day its very diappointing
Friday, April 23, 2010 9:51AM
[...] drops on June 29th (according to Consequence of Sound and a very huge blimp.) Instead of watching a green tinted video of her dancing in the shadows with a new song where we think it’s her, the new track [...]