MIA's album-release grabs US headlines

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 July 2010, 10:24 GMT]
Washington Post called Jaffna born music phenom, Maya Arulpragasam (popularly known as MIA) the "most innovative and dynamic pop star of her generation" as it covered the story of MIA's release of her third album "Maya" Tuesday. The British Guardian, writing about the British singer's popularity before the release of her album said that "she speaks out in support of Tamil citizens," and that "[h]er assertions that the Sri Lankan government is guilty of the genocide of local Tamils have not been going down well."

Maya Mathangi Arulpragasam, Grammy, Oscar nominee
Maya Mathangi Arulpragasam, Grammy, Oscar nominee
"The British rapper, tastemaker and provocateur is peddling pop miasma on her third album, "Maya" -- a disorienting mix of industrial clatter and digital slush that makes Public Enemy's revolutionary bombast feel worthy of "Glee,"" the Post said in its coverage, adding, "And it's hard to imagine anything burying Maya Arulpragasam. Since making her debut in 2004 as M.I.A., she's posited herself as the most innovative and dynamic pop star of her generation. Sure, she's a middling rapper and an awful dancer, but she still remains larger than life thanks to curatorial superpowers that border on Warholian. As the Internet continues to metastasize, her music has made our sprawling popscape feel both endlessly thrilling and comfortingly finite, grafting Baltimore club to Bollywood to Brazilian baile funk with a seamless cool."

Orwell's "big brother" is the theme of one of the songs. ""The Message," the album's opening salvo, follows those aforementioned laptop clicks with a nursery rhyme about Big Brother's digital omnipotence. "Head bone connected to the headphones," a male voice chants. "Headphones connected to the iPhone, iPhone connected to the Internet, connected to the Google, connected to the government,"" the Post explained.

The Post made only a passing reference to the recent controversy with New York Times which insinuated that the Singer supported "terrorism" when MIA spoke on behalf of her Tamil heritage and her highlighting of the Sri Lankan states alleged massacre of 40,000 Tamil civilians.

New York Times (NYT) in a correction published in June 2010 admitted that NYT journlalist Lynn Hirschberg used quotes from an interview with Maya Arulpragasam out of context to misrepresent her views on the Tamil conflict. Hirschberg also wrote "Maya taps into her rage at the persecution of Tamils in Sri Lanka to espouse violence," pointing to Maya's lyrics "You wanna win a war?/Like P.L.O. I don’t surrender.” A media outlet commented "within the context of the song, there’s no way to interpret the lyrics this way, unless you’re coming into it with a certain agenda."


Chronology:


External Links:
WP: M.I.A.'s 'Maya,' missing in action

 

Latest 15 Reports
21.09.24 16:12   Photo
JVP always denied Eezham Tamils’ inalienable self-determination: Anthropology scholar
18.09.24 21:30   Photo
Sinhala leftists need careful perusal of Lenin’s definition of Right to Self-Determination
30.08.24 15:27   Photo
Viraj exposed West’s criminalization of Tamil struggle
30.08.24 09:08  
‘பொதுச்சபை’ நகர்வை ‘சிவில் சமூக அமையம்’ தரும் படிப்பினைகளின் கண்கொண்டு நோக்குதல்
20.08.24 17:59   Photo
Viraj teaches Zone of Peace, Peace Process, Crimes Against Peace
18.08.24 21:23   Photo
Viraj Mendis: A beacon of international solidarity and a pillar in the Eelam-Tamil liberation struggle
18.08.24 16:47   Photo
Viraj in Tamil Radical Politics
18.08.24 11:27  
மூலோபாயத்தையும் தந்திரோபாயத்தையும் தொலைத்த தேர்தல் அரசியலைத் திருத்த இயலுமா?
17.08.24 12:15   Photo
விராஜ் மெண்டிஸ் விட்டுச் செல்லும் நிரப்பவியலா இடைவெளி
04.02.24 15:40   Photo
சியோனிசம் காணும் தோல்வி ஈழத்தமிழருக்குப் பலன் தரவல்ல படிமை மாற்றத்தின் அறிகுறி
24.04.22 05:44  
தீவின் நெருக்கடிச் சூழலில் ஈழத்தமிழர் தேசம் கடைப்பிடிக்கவேண்டிய நிலைப்பாடுகள்
09.04.22 14:44   Photo
குறிதவறும் ஈழத்தமிழர் தலைமைகளுக்கு வரலாறு தருகின்ற எச்சரிக்கை
21.01.22 07:24   Photo
ஈழத்தமிழர் தேசத்தின் தலைமைத்துவம் தேர்தல் அரசியற் கட்சிகளுக்கு அப்பாலானது
02.11.21 15:32   Photo
13 ஆம் சட்டத்திருத்தத்தால் கட்டமைக்கப்பட்ட இன அழிப்பை எதிர்கொள்ள முடியுமா?
15.09.21 08:19  
English version not available
 
Find this article at:
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=32193