You are currently browsing posts tagged with Maya Arulpragasam
Addicted To This GIF: MIA Giving 111.3 Million People The Finger
I just can’t get enough of this.
[The New Yorker: MIA Shouldn't Have Apologized]
Filed under: Bad Girls, Fuck Off, Maya Arulpragasam, MIA, MIA Flipping the Bird, MIA Giving the Finger Super Bowl, Super Bowl Halftime Show, Super Bowl XLVI
ROCK OF ASIAN: “Paper Planes,” The Brentwood Remix
A few weeks ago, after M.I.A. gave another heinously unlikable interview during the run-up to the release of her new album, this time to GQ, in which she said she lives in Brentwood because she can’t afford New York, I suggested she begin taking a different approach to her public overshares if she wanted to stop alienating her audience:
You know what would be revolutionary and guerrilla-style? If you said something like, “I’m a mom now, and Brentwood’s safe” or “I’m rich now, where do you want me to live?” or “I like how unchallenging Brentwood is, I don’t have to be cool here” or even something hilariously bourgie like, “I picked Brentwood because I fell in love with this particular house.” You want to get heads spinning? Tell me you’re a Westside–and, uh, I don’t mean in the 2PAC sense–soccer mom.
And wouldn’t you know it? She did just that:
Yes, of course, the video isn’t real, but I kind of wish it were. She’s way more appealing when she’s owning her rock star lifestyle rather than disavowing it.
Thanks, KT!
Filed under: /\/\/\Y/\, Asian Ladies Who Rock, Jumping the Shark, M.I.A., M.I.A. Brentwood, M.I.A. Is Annoying, M.I.A. Paper Planes Brentwood Remix, Maya Arulpragasam, Paper Planes, Rock of Asian, Soccer Moms, Sri Lankans
ROCK OF ASIAN: Less Talking, More Rocking, M.I.A.
Dear M.I.A.,
I know you’ve got a forthcoming album to promote, so you’re going to have to give a gajillion interviews loaded with controversial statements, so that blogs will have something to write about, so that Twitter will get a new trending topic, so that you’ll generate more buzz, so that the wheels will get greased, so that the whole machine behind making you a pop star will get cranking, but I’m going to need you to stop talking for a while, okay?
Because every time I read another interview with you, I like you less and less. And I like you a lot. And I’d like it to stay that way. But it’s kind of impossible when you say things like you’re living in Brentwood because you can’t afford New York. Not that I’m not curious about why you’re living in Brentwood. But, as HuffPo pointed out, real estate there goes for $636 a square foot. You know what would be revolutionary and guerrilla-style? If you said something like, “I’m a mom now, and Brentwood’s safe” or “I’m rich now, where do you want me to live?” or “I like how unchallenging Brentwood is, I don’t have to be cool here” or even something hilariously bourgie like, “I picked Brentwood because I fell in love with this particular house.” You want to get heads spinning? Tell me you’re a Westside–and, uh, I don’t mean in the 2PAC sense–soccer mom. But tell me you’re living in Brentwood because you can’t afford other places, and I want to punch you, as Diana would say, in the neckmeat.
You’re an artist and a storyteller, and we love it when you embellish the truth–as the GQ profile I’m talking about points out you often do–but we don’t like it when you’re dishonest, not so much in the factual sense, but in the emotional sense. So the only Continue reading ROCK OF ASIAN: Less Talking, More Rocking, M.I.A.
Filed under: Brentwood Sucks, GQ, Ladies Who Rock, Lynn Hirschberg, M.I.A., M.I.A. GQ Interview, Maya Arulpragasam, Rocking My Face Off, Sri Lanka, STFU, Stop Talking, Tamils, Terrorism, Truffle Fries
M.I.A.’s “Born Free” Vid: Is Ginger-Hate The New Black?
Have you seen M.I.A.’s much talked-about “Born Free” video yet?
It’s violent! It’s NSFW! It’s been censored by YouTube! It’s about GENOCIDE, people!
It’s also, frankly, a little silly.
The video depicts an American police state in which Gingers are rounded up and brutally exterminated, and by “brutally” I mean, in that beautiful cinematic way–replete with slow motion effects, big budget explosions, and a pastel desert sky–that filmmakers tend to favor, paradoxically, when they’re supposed to be showing you that killing is anything but beautiful.
And, YES, it’s a metaphor, but it’s also–as people have already pointed out–a South Park episode from 2005. A very funny South Park episode that made me giggle. Is that the desired effect of “Born Free,” to make people giggle at genocide? No? Then pick a better metaphor. Besides, Ginger-Hate is too trendy for M.I.A., it’s too cute.
But where this video really goes awry is with the song itself. “Born Free” sounds a whole lot like 9 minutes of you sitting on your bedroom floor, playing your records backwards. In other words, it’s kinda terrible. Especially for someone like M.I.A., who’s genius at delivering a message with a mean hook (see: “Paper Planes”).
About her music, M.I.A. has been quoted in the past as saying:
“Nobody wants to be dancing to political songs. Every bit of music out there that’s making it into the mainstream is really about nothing. I wanted to see if I could write songs about something important and make it sound like nothing. And it kind of worked.”
And therein lies the problem: “Born Free” sounds like nothing alright…but can you dance to it?
Filed under: But Can You Dance To It?, Censorship, Controversy, Dance Music, Fake Controversy, Genocide, Ginger Hate, Ginger Kids, Gingers, Graphic Violence, M.I.A., M.I.A. Born Free Video, Maya Arulpragasam, Music Videos, Political Songs, South Park Ginger Kids, Sri Lankans, Violence, YouTube Censorship
Congratulasians, M.I.A.
The “retired” M.I.A. played a show in Brooklyn over the weekend, where it was revealed that the singer is pregnant.
Are we bad people for being insanely jealous of an unborn fetus? Because we already hate the kid for being so dope, hot, musically-inclined, and rich.
Filed under: Being Jealous of a Fetus, Ben Brewer, Children, M.I.A., M.I.A. Pregnancy, M.I.A. Pregnant, Maya Arulpragasam, Preggers, Preggo, Sri Lanka, Sri Lankans, The Exit, We're Pregnant With Joy
