M.I.A. (artist)

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M.I.A.
M.I.A. at the Siren Music Festival in July 2007
M.I.A. at the Siren Music Festival in July 2007
Background information
Birth name Mathangi Arulpragasam
Also known as M.I.A., MIA, Maya Arulpragasam
Born July 17, 1977 (1977-07-17) (age 30)
Hounslow, London, England
Origin London, England
Genre(s) Alternative, grime, hip-hop, ragga, dancehall, electro, baile funk
Occupation(s) Rapper, singer, songwriter, producer, painter
Years active 2000–present
Label(s) XL Recordings
Interscope Records
Showbiz Records
Website miauk.com

Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam (July 17, 1977), a British vocalist, songwriter, composer, record producer and visual artist, is a Tamil of Jaffna origin. Best known by her stage name, M.I.A, her work in music often features a range of elements of genres including grime, hip-hop, ragga, dancehall and electro.

An accomplished visual artist by 2002, M.I.A. came to prominence in early 2004 through file-sharing of her singles "Galang" and "Sunshowers" on the internet. In 2005, her debut album, Arular, was nominated for the Mercury Prize. In 2007, her second album, Kala was released.

Contents

Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, the daughter of a Tamil activist-turned militant, Arul Pragasam,[1] was born in Hounslow, London. When she was six months old, her family moved back to their native Sri Lanka. Motivated by his wish to support the LTTE, her father became politically known as Arular and was a founding member of The Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS), a militant Tamil group.[2][3] Her alias, M.I.A., stands for both Missing in Acton and Missing in Action.[4]

While residing in Sri Lanka, Maya lived with her grandparents. After a year, as her father's involvement in militant activities increased, Maya, her older sister Kali, and their mother Kala moved to Jaffna in the far north of the island, where Maya's younger brother Sugu was born. Contact with her father was strictly limited, as she says he was in hiding from the Sri Lankan Army.[5][4] Eventually, as the civil war escalated, it became unsafe for the family to stay in Sri Lanka,[5] so they relocated to Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.[6] They moved into an almost derelict house, surviving there for a while with sporadic visits from Maya's father. However, financial struggles, illness as well as limitations of food and water meant moving back to Sri Lanka, with the help of an uncle, where they settled in Jaffna again.

By now, the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka was at its peak,[5] and the family once again tried to flee the country.[6] After several failed attempts to leave, Maya’s mother successfully made it out with the three children, arriving first in India before finally returning to Maya's birthplace in London, where they were housed as refugees.[5]

It was in the late '80s, on a council estate in Mitcham (South London), that an eleven-year-old Arulpragasam began to learn the English language.[3] Here she was exposed to Western radio for the first time, hearing broadcasts emanating from her neighbours' flats.[3] Her affinity for hip-hop and rap began from there. Acts including Public Enemy, Big Daddy Kane, Roxanne Shante and N.W.A. would become just some of her early music influences.

Arulpragasam attended London's Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, where she studied fine art, film and video.[7]

Arulpragasam's Pocko Editions Art book cover. (2002)
Arulpragasam's Pocko Editions Art book cover. (2002)

Arulpragasam's first-ever public exhibition of paintings in 2001 at the Euphoria Shop in Portobello, London, featured candy colored spray-paint and stencil pictures of the Tamil rebellion movement. Graffitied tigers and palm trees mixed with orange, green and pink camouflage, bombs, guns and fighters on chip board off-cuts and canvases. The show was nominated for the Alternative Turner Prize,[7] (Jude Law is a patron of her art)[8] and a monograph book of the collection was published by Pocko [1] (which was simply entitled M.I.A.).[9]

The Publication's back cover reads:

From a long-forgotten region of endemic conflict comes a project to challenge your ethical core. The art of warfare is sprawled across these pages transforming bloodshed into beauty and raising the phoenix of forbidden expression - The real war is in us.[2]

During her time in film school, she cites “radical cinema - Harmony Korine and Dogme 95”[10] as some of her cinematic inspirations, and having wrote a script, was approached by John Singleton to work on a film in LA.[11] Additionally Arulpragasam expressed an early interest in fashion and textiles, (her mother is a seamstress),[7] designing and wearing self-made clothes, and was a roommate of fashion designer Luella Bartley.[12]

A commission from Elastica's Justine Frischmann to provide the artwork and cover image for the band's second album, The Menace, led to Arulpragasam following the band on tour around forty American states, video-documenting the event, and eventually directing the music video for Elastica's single, "Mad Dog".[6] The support act on the tour, electro-clash artist Peaches, introduced Arulpragasam to the Roland MC-505 sequencing machine and encouraged her to experiment in the artform she felt least confident in: music.[13] Back home in London, Arulpragasam and Frischmann got hold of a 505 and, working with a simple set-up (a second-hand 4-track, the 505 and a radio microphone),[14] Arulpragasam worked-up a series of six songs onto a demo tape which aroused interest. This tape included the first track she had ever composed, "M.I.A.", the second track she had ever composed, "Galang", and "Lady Killer". The tape reached Steve Mackey and Ross Orton who then re-worked the track "Galang". (sample (help·info))

A mix of dancehall, electro, grime and world music, Showbiz Records pressed 500 copies of the independent vinyl single "Galang" in 2003 which became popular and made an immediate impact with DJs.[6] In 2004, file-sharing of the single, followed by the high speed of internet word-of-mouth made her a household name to international music listeners before she had graced a stage.[15] Major record labels caught onto the popularity of "Galang" and M.I.A. eventually signed to XL Recordings home to Dizzee Rascal, Basement Jaxx and the White Stripes, as they were the only label to offer her complete creative control.[16] She also chose them because it was the closest to her house, telling the label, "Trust me, you've been looking for me",[16] before dropping off the "Galang" tape. They called her back soon after.

Maya Arulpragasam in the video for her song "Sunshowers"
Maya Arulpragasam in the video for her song "Sunshowers"

"Galang" was re-released in 2004. The accompanying music video for the song, featuring multiple M.I.A.’s amid a backdrop of her graffiti artwork animated and brought to life, was directed by Ruben Fleischer and art directed by M.I.A. herself, depicting scenes of urban Britain and war. For her next single release, on July 5, 2004, "Sunshowers," Arulpragasam again collaborated with Ross Orton and Steve Mackey. Together they reworked a chorus from Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band’s track of the same name, this time about guerrilla warfare. A video was made for the track, which she filmed in the jungles of South India with director Rajesh Touchriver.[7] Designer Matthew Williamson opened and closed his fashion week runway show with the song in 2004.[17]

Piracy Funds Terrorism (2004)
Piracy Funds Terrorism (2004)

With her debut album almost completed, Arulpragasam met a DJ called Diplo at the Fabric Club in London, who was coincidentally playing "Galang" as she entered the club,[16] and travelled to Philadelphia soon after to work on the production of the last track (hidden) on her album, "M.I.A.", with him. Remixing, sampling and mashing up the a capellas of the tracks on Arular, with prominent rappers and musicians, they eventually used the material created during the sessions to build the mixtape Piracy Funds Terrorism.

Piracy Funds Terrorism was handed out at early live shows and exclusively released through the Turntable.com website around December 2004. The mixtape met with underground success.[18][19] It added to the already building anticipation of Arulpragasam's debut album,[6] becoming popular among M.I.A.'s growing fanbase within the music blogosphere and elsewhere.[18]

Diplo also produced the third track on Arular, the baile funk-influenced "Bucky Done Gun." Some controversy later emerged over journalists falsely attributing ideas and work on M.I.A.'s debut album to Diplo; M.I.A. later raising the issue in 2007 with media.[20] The album had in fact been close to completion before the two met, something she would confirm in a 2007 interview.[20]

M.I.A. performing at Sónar in June 2005.
M.I.A. performing at Sónar in June 2005.

Prior to the release of her debut LP, Arulpragasam made her North American debut at the Drake Hotel in Toronto in February, 2005. According to organiser Jacob Smid the “Response was phenomenal”.[21] She followed this with a sold out performance at New York City’s Knitting Factory club the next day. “She brings out such a diverse crowd…At the time, it seemed like she was still under the radar; the record wasn't out but people were singing along to every song", Smid recalled to Pollstar Magazine. "It was really cool to see.”[21]

Arulpragasam’s debut album Arular was finally released worldwide in March 2005 and was critically acclaimed.[22][23] Arular was titled in acknowledgment of her father's past, and was co-produced and written mostly by M.I.A.. Much of its focus lay in experimentation; consisting of bold, jarring and ambient sounds, complimented with lyrics that were both observational and reflective of her own experiences - touching on identity, poverty, revolution, war and the working class in London, with the use of culture-jamming, multi-lingual slang and street/social commentary. Her work attracted artists such as the rapper Nas, who by early 2005 stated, “Her sound is the future.”[24] Some commentators noticed either intentionally ambiguous or strong, provocative political messages throughout the record,[25] with Arulpragasam herself stating in October 2004, prior to the album's release, "I wanted to see if I could write songs about something important and make it sound like nothing. And it kind of worked."[7] Although suggested that the album’s current was a product of travelling, according to M.I.A., “most of Arular was made in London in a bedroom.” [26] It also featured exploration of new territory for its co-producers Steve Mackey and Richard X who worked with dancehall and Tamil nursery rhymes. Arulpragasam followed the release of the album with performances at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which drew a strongly favourable response and unusually large crowd for the billing she played,[27] the Manhattan club S.O.B.s, the Bue Festival,[28] at Central Park Summerstage, the Glastonbury Festival, Reading Festival and the Summer Sonic Fest as well as at other venues.[29][30][31] She also toured with LCD Soundsystem.[32] She appeared on the track “Bad Man” on Missy Elliott’s 2005 album The Cookbook.

On July 19, 2005, M.I.A. was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize for Arular.[33] Commercially successful, Arular remains one of the best selling independent albums in Canada, having stayed on the Nielsen SoundScan Electronic Top Ten Chart for 27 weeks, peaking at number 3.[34] In December, Arular was the second most featured album in music critics’ Year-End Top 10 lists for 2005.[35] It was placed number two on The Village Voice's 33rd annual Pazz & Jop poll for the Best Album of 2005[36] and gained glowing reviews from several publications worldwide. The album was also named best of 2005 by Blender magazine.[22][23][34] M.I.A. ended 2005 joining Gwen Stefani on her Harajuku Lovers Tour.

M.I.A. performing at the Siren Music Festival in June 2007.
M.I.A. performing at the Siren Music Festival in June 2007.

The arrival of 2006 saw M.I.A. returning to the studio to write and record her second studio album Kala, named after her mother. Following censorship controversies and documented U.S. visa problems[37] in 2006, Kala was worked on while M.I.A. travelled through several different locations including India, Trinidad, Liberia, Jamaica, Australia, Japan and the US.[38] Immigration formed a strong theme throughout the record. Serving as primary co-producer on Kala, she created its artwork and was also involved in photography for the album. She took an underground DJ named Switch with her during her travels to collaborate as a co-producer with her.

The Internet would continue to be the source of much of her output, with Arulpragasam making songs and videos such as "Bird Flu" available on her Myspace and YouTube accounts, official website and music downloading sites like the iTunes Music Store. M.I.A. featured in the song "Come Around", a bonus track on Timbaland's 2007 album Timbaland Presents Shock Value (UK and Japan version only). The song also appears on Kala.

The first official single from Kala, "Boyz," released on June 11, 2007, mixed Chennai gaana and Trinidadian soca. The music video for the song was co-directed by Jay Will and M.I.A. The album's second single "Jimmy" was released in July 2007 in Japan as a first single and in October 2007 in the UK. "Paper Planes" is the third single from "Kala". M.I.A. says "Paper Planes" is a response to capitalism and the search for income.[39]

Kala was released in August 2007 around the world. It charted in several countries, debuting at number #22 on the United World Chart and generally received a very positive critical reception. In support of the release, Arulpragasam announced a tour to take place throughout 2007, performing at music festivals and concerts, including headline shows at Studio B in Brooklyn in July 2007, [40] the Echoplex club in Hollywood, Lollapalooza, Pukkelpop, the Gloria Theatre in Germany, Lowlands, the Arena of Nîmes supporting Björk, Rock en Seine and the Get Loaded Festival in London,[41] - a gig that drew a crowd sing-along pitch described in a review as “near hysterical.”[42] M.I.A. performed at the Electric Picnic in Ireland, Connect in Scotland, the Virgin Festival[43] (Toronto, Ontario) and the Osheaga Festival (Montreal, Quebec)[44] in addition to the Austin City Limits, the Treasure Island Music Festival in late September 2007,[45] and at the opening of the Terminal 5 club in New York.

She also performed at the Parklife festival events around Australia, and toured Japan during September 2007, before adding more dates to her U.S. tour and in the U.K. due to high demand.[46] Supporting acts on the tour include RyeRye, Santogold and the Cool Kids. M.I.A. is referenced in the song of the same name by London-based anti-folk artist Emmy the Great, released on her My Bad EP.

M.I.A. has strong political messages in her music.[47] Having lived through civil war in Sri Lanka, she has had firsthand experience with difficult political situations. M.I.A. has expressed discontent with the War on Terror and its global impact. "You can't separate the world into two parts like that, good and evil. But America has successfully tied all these pockets of independence struggles, revolutions, and extremists into one big notion of terrorism."[48] There is an intentional ambiguity and provocativeness in Maya's music. "I wanted to see if I could write songs about something important and make it sound like nothing. And it kind of worked."[49]

Arulpragasam visited Liberia in December 2006 to meet war-affected people there including ex-child soldiers and featured in a TV-Series documentary on the post war situation in the country with activist Kimmie Weeks.[50][51][52] In a video documentary for Vbs.tv, M.I.A. brought Spike Jonze to meet Afrikan Boy in his immigrant neighborhood of Deptford, Woolwich, South London. In the documentary, M.I.A spoke of the possibility of launching her own record label entitled Zig-Zag, with Afrikan Boy’s track "Lidl" being the first release. Some speculation arose on the concept of a future mixtape by M.I.A., when in the documentary M.I.A. played a song reportedly titled "Talk About Moi." M.I.A. has remained quiet on details of future recordings and her career in music, though she has said she has plenty of unreleased material.

Main article: M.I.A. discography

Year Title Album Chart positions
UK U.S. U.S Dance Sales U.S Single Sales CAN
2003/
2004		 "Galang" Arular
77
—
—
—
19
2004 "Sunshowers"
93
—
—
—
22
2005 "Bucky Done Gun"
88
—
—
—
—
"Galang '05"
77
—
11
—
—
2007 "Boyz" Kala
—
—
3
7
7
"Jimmy"
66
—
—
—
—
"Paper Planes"
—
—
—
—
—

Some awards and nominations M.I.A. has received are listed below.

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Returned to Sri Lanka in 2001 with the intent of making a documentary to retrace the steps of her childhood and discover the fate of a cousin who had joined the Tigers and died under mysterious circumstances.[53]

  1. ^ Lynskey, Dorian (22 April 2005). Fighting Talk. The Guardian. Retrieved on 19 April 2006.
  2. ^ Wang, Oliver (May 9, 2005). M.I.A.: Rapper and Daughter of Revolution. NPR. Retrieved on 6 May 2007.
  3. ^ a b c Wheaton, Robert (6 May 2005). London Calling - For Congo, Columbo, Sri Lanka.... PopMatters.com. Retrieved on 6 May 2007.
  4. ^ a b Empire, Kitty (20 March 2005). Flash-forward. The Observer. Retrieved on 30 March 2007.
  5. ^ a b c d Umile, Dominic. M.I.A. Arular. Prefix Magazine. Retrieved on 30 March 2007.
  6. ^ a b c d e Kellman, Andy. M.I.A.: Short biography. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 30 March 2007.
  7. ^ a b c d e Mangla, Ismat (4 October 2004). Not-So Missing in Action. Nirali Magazine. Retrieved on 13 May 2007.
  8. ^ Weiner, Jonah (Jan/Feb 2005). The Next Best Thing! M.I.A.. Blender Magazine. Retrieved on 25 February 2007.
  9. ^ M.I.A.: The Pocko Art Collection. Pocko Editions (06 August 2006). Retrieved on 13 May 2007.
  10. ^ John Singleton - M.I.A. once eyed a career as a film-maker. Contactmusic.com (4 October 2005). Retrieved on 20 August 2006.
  11. ^ Robert Epstein, Daniel (29 December 2005). Interview: M.I.A.. Suicidegirls.com. Retrieved on 20 August 2006.
  12. ^ Luella Bartley & M.I.A.. Nirali Magazine (11 August 2006). Retrieved on 19 December 2006.
  13. ^ Pearson, Gemma (2005). “M.I.A.". Fused Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-09-04.
  14. ^ Drowned in Sound: M.I.A. - "Boyz". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
  15. ^ M.I.A. Is Back in Action. Retrieved on August 27, 2007.
  16. ^ a b c Pytlik, Mark (14 March 2005). Interview: M.I.A.. Pitchforkmedia.com. Retrieved on 12 April 2006.
  17. ^ Webb, Adam (2005). “M.I.A. - Arular". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved on 2007-09-04.
  18. ^ a b M.I.A.: Arular. Tiny MixTapes (2005). Retrieved on 6 May 2007.
  19. ^ Metroland Online – Live: M.I.A. “Tiger on the Mic”. Metroland.net (2005). Retrieved on 6 May 2007.
  20. ^ a b M.I.A. Confronts the Haters. Pitchforkmedia (2007). Retrieved on 10 December 2007.
  21. ^ a b Peters, Mitchell (5 September 2005). M.I.A.. Pollstar Magazine. Retrieved on 30 March 2006.
  22. ^ a b Acclaimed Music.net (31 December 2005). Acclaimed Music - Arular. Acclaimed Music.net. Retrieved on 24 February 2007.
  23. ^ a b Metacritic (31 December 2005). M.I.A.: Arular (2005): Reviews. Metacritic Database. Retrieved on 24 February 2007.
  24. ^ M.I.A. - Front line. VIBE magazine (24 May 2005). Retrieved on 16 December 2007.
  25. ^ M.I.A.. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.
  26. ^ Lindsay, Cam (2007). “M.I.A.’s Outsider Art ". Exclaim! Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-09-18.
  27. ^ Coachella 2005. 411mania (2005-05-05). Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  28. ^ M.I.A.: The IGN Interview. IGN (2005-12-16). Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  29. ^ XL: M.I.A. Mini-Biography. XL Recordings (Summer 2005). Retrieved on 30 March 2006.
  30. ^ M.I.A. Announces Headlining Tour. Pitchforkmedia (2005-07-25). Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  31. ^ Shapiro, Peter (17 June 2005). Talking about her revolution. The Times. Retrieved on 19 April 2006.
  32. ^ M.I.A. Radio Interview (audio). KEXP.org (11 May 2005). Retrieved on 25 February 2007.
  33. ^ Forrest, Emma (4 September 2005). MIA, Myself and I. Guardian Unlimited Arts. Retrieved on 19 April 2006.
  34. ^ a b Beggars Group Canada (31 December 2005). M.I.A. Closes 2005 in Grand Style. Beggars Group Canada. Retrieved on 24 February 2007.
  35. ^ Metacritic (31 December 2005). Metacritic: Best Albums of 2005. Metacritic Database. Retrieved on 24 February 2007.
  36. ^ The Village Voice (31 December 2005). The 33rd Annual Village Voice pazz&jop critics’ poll. The Village Voice. Retrieved on 24 February 2007.
  37. ^ MIA Denied Entry To the US. The Spacelab (Spring 2006). Retrieved on 22 May 2006.
  38. ^ Music Review: M.I.A. Returns. Retrieved on October 01, 2007.
  39. ^ M.I.A. Strike, Match, Light, Fire (2007-12-3). Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
  40. ^ "Live:M.I.A. @ Studio B". The Fader Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  41. ^ M.I.A. adds U.S. dates to Summer Tour. Pitchforkmedia (2007-06-28). Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  42. ^ "Get Loaded in the Park live reviews". Times Online. Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  43. ^ " Arctic Monkeys, M.I.A. And Metric Added To Toronto Virgin Festival" (2007-04-04). Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  44. ^ " Interpol, Arctic Monkeys, Damien Rice, M.I.A., Martha Wainwright, Editors, Explosions in the Sky, and more added to Osheaga 2007 lineup" (2007-05-09). Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  45. ^ Arulpragasam, Maya (2007). "M.I.A. – Upcoming shows". Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  46. ^ M.I.A. extends Fall Tour. Pitchforkmedia (2007-09-13). Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
  47. ^ M.I.A.. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.
  48. ^ Mathangi Maya Arulpragasam. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.
  49. ^ M.I.A.. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.
  50. ^ Arulpragasam, Maya: Crack Guns in Africa, Crack in America. M.I.A. Myspace. 2 December 2006. Retrieved 24 February 2007.
  51. ^ Top Singer M.I.A. in Liberia, MTV Crew in town. Analyst Liberia.com (7 December 2006). Retrieved on 24 February 2007.
  52. ^ "New World Order" (2007-09-16). Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
  53. ^ Binielli, Mark (15 December 2005). Guerrilla Goddess. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 20 August 2006.

  • ^  Arulpragasam, Maya (2002). M.I.A. No. 10 (Paperback ed.). Pocko Editions. ISBN 1-903977-10-X

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v • d • e
M.I.A.
Albums Arular (2005)  · Kala (2007)
Singles "Galang"  · "Sunshowers"  · "Bucky Done Gun"  · "Boyz"  · "Jimmy"  · "Paper Planes"
Related articles Discography · Piracy Funds Terrorism · "Bird Flu"
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.I.A._%28artist%29"
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