To those bored with M.I.A. hype, pretend I’m drawing a cloak of invisibility around this post. Pretend it was hidden somewhere far, far away where nobody would ever read it. In other words, my personal blog 😉
First up, Maya Arulpragasam’s dad and album namesake got a few lines in a 1995 book called Tigers of Lanka. The book describes his Sri Lankan escapades after training in explosives in Lebanon (via Nittewa):
One of the first three Tamils to go to Lebanon was Arul Pragasam, alias Arular. He reached Kannady, also in Vavuniya, in 1976 with a view to settle down and establish a base to woo the educated class into joining the EROS… Arular, with his Kannady farm barely 20 miles from Pirabaharan’s hideout, met the LTTE leader several times beginning September 1976. With his degree in engineering and newly-acquired knowledge in Lebanon, Arular passed on to Pirabaharan ideas about making explosives. In turn, Pirabaharan agreed to provide incendiary chemicals to Arular.
Once a LTTE courier carrying nitric acid to the Kannady farm was caught by the police after he could not give credible explanation about his presence in the Vavuniya forest. Arular, who came rushing from Jaffna on hearing about the arrest, told the police that he had ordered the acid to pour it into snake pits. Mercifully, the police were convinced by the explanation and released the courier. But Pirabaharan would not leave any evidence; at the first opportunity he had the police station raided and all documents related to the arrest were taken away…
Second, Turbanhead points us to some shaky handheld video clips of M.I.A. performing at Coachella. Live performances, like drinking, rarely look good in daylight, but Punk Ass Bitch reports that M.I.A. got a rare Coachella encore:
She walked off the stage when her set was over and the whole crowd was chanting “M.I.A – M.I.A. – M.I.A.” over and over again. Everyone wanted more. Nobody was moving. Even Diplo wasnt leaving his turntables. The sound crew was very confused. They made Diplo leave the stage and the crowd just kept cheering “M.I.A.” louder and louder.Ya see nobody at Coachella ever gets an encore. They have very strict schedules to keep. It doesn’t matter how big you are, you dont get an encore. The only acts I’ve ever seen get an encore were the headliners at the main stage. Nobody who performs during the day ever gets an encore. Until M.I.A. The sound manager told his crew to not take the stage apart and let them do a couple more songs. I think he was afraid of the crowd. We were all hungry for more.
Diplo came back. and 2 mins later MIA was back on stage. I think she was in shock at the response she was getting. She said ‘I only have one album and we went through all our songs. But fuck it, we’ll just wing it.’ Diplo threw on some beats and she just started singing some of her b-sides. The crowd went ape shit. I still get goosebumps thinking about this set.
Previous posts here and in the music category.
Sepia Mutiny announces that from this point on they will only report on two things –
and updates on south asian celebrities!
i’m seeing her this saturday, hope it’s as good as coachella was
To those bored with M.I.A. hype, pretend IÂ’m drawing a cloak of invisibility around this post
What post? I can’t even see this post on my computer screen. What is it about? 🙂
I dont care how much media hype she got. That album is near perfect.
Holler son! Holler.
It’s not just SM that is hyping MIA too much, it’s most of the hipster music media.
MIA is certifiably “cool,” but musically and lyrically there’s not all that much going on. Arular (I finally went out and bought it) is for me a mix of cool beats, nonsense rhymes, and some nursery-rhymish shrieking on top.
There’s nothing wrong with chanting “Galang galang galang” a thousand times, of course, if it gets people dancing (but does it really?). And if you can get past the “terrorist aesthetic” (which still bothers me a bit).
In terms of the coherence of the lyrics, I get a lot more out of Mos Def or Asian Dub Foundation than I do out of M.I.A. Give me ADF’s “Rebel Warrior” or “New Way, New Life” over any M.I.A. song, any day. Here’s the first verse of “New Way, New Life”:
Every sunday morning in front of the tv Recording with a microphone naya zindagi Pioneer gurdas maan Nusrat fateh ali khan Kept our parents alive Gave them the will to survive Working inna de factories Sometimes sweeping de floor Unsung heroines an heroes Yes they open de door They came a long time ago But now it seems weÂ’ve arrived Naya zindagi! naya jeevan New way new life
Top that, MIA.
‘Sunshowers’ lyrics:
Quit bending all my fingo Quit beating me like you’re Ringo…
Semi-9 and snipered him On that wall they posted him They cornered him And they just murdered him
He told them he didn’t know them He wasn’t there, they didn’t know him They showed him a picture then Ain’t that you with the Muslims?
He had Colgate on his teeth Reebook classics on his feet At a factory he does Nike And then helps the family
Beat heart beat He made it to the Newsweek Sweetheart seen it He’s doin’ it for the peeps, peace
And it’s more danceable than ‘Jamrock.’
It would help if she were singing the chorus of “Sunshowers” in tune. Don’t you find it a little grating? MIA, f you’re reading this, please stick to your rap/chant stylee.
But ok, I’ll grant that the lyrics there are decent.
here in dc, when Ozio played “galang” in march, the entire club shook from all the dancing; people who had been “coolly” surveying the scene were suddenly dropping the alcohol/coats/purses wherever they could and going wild. very few moments in my dc-clubbing experience compared to the level of energy and exuberance that moment inspired– the floor became so congested, it was like one big dirty dance.
fine, the media has kissed her ass so much it’s probably swollen from the contact, but that doesn’t take away from the sonic awesomeness of “Arular”. hype doesn’t always ruin a good thing.
here’s why MIA matters: she’s smart, saucy AND infectious. as long as she DOES matter, i think news about her belongs here. though i love and respect Asian Dub Foundation immensely, i’ve never heard them when i’m out, fatiguing my calves. comparing MIA to them isn’t analogous for that reason, IMO.
MIA is certifiably “cool,” but musically and lyrically there’s not all that much going on.
Thank you Amardeep for putting it so well. I’m way over her even though I lust after her still. 🙂
“Galang” is as infectious as it gets! Makes me wanna bounce up and down just thinking about it!
As for MIA coverage, hey, it’s all good. She’s getting the hype now but she deserves it. Besides, pop culture is fickle by nature, and if she doesn’t produce a strong sophomore effort she’ll quickly recede in our memories. The sister is enjoying her 15 minutes right now, let’s not begrudge her the joy.
Or more succinctly: “Don’t hate, celebrate!”
There’s another thing. The whole neo-desi music thing a few years ago (Nitin Sawhney, Talvin Singh, et al) kind of fizzled out. There’s lots of desi artists out there right now but none that have really captured the spirit of the times the way MIA has. If folks have suggestions of interesting desi or post-desi musicians (genre-subverting a plus) out there worth a listen, please do share!
peace
Agree she is over-hyped, but I’m glad to see MIA out there — she’s strecthing people’s minds about what this whole desi diaspora is about. We cover such a broad range of backgrounds, languages, cultures and experiences… I see what she is doing as a celebration of her unique voice. So maybe she’s off key sometimes, she’s having a lot of fun doing it, and so is everyone else it seems.
As to siddhartha’s point about the fizzling of ‘neo desi’ music — interesting phrase, twist on the overused ‘neo-soul’ — you can’t seriously believe this is the case. Talvin may be deep underground now but he’s still on the concert circuit, and Nitis is still the man –in fact his popularity keeps growing. And we’ve only just seen the 2nd wave of cutting-edge desi musicians after the UK wave of the mid to late 90s… innovative and important artists like Karsh Kale, Midival Punditz, Sharaab, Karmacy, Dhamaal.. the list goes on.
I’m happy to share more names and point folks to musicians to check out… drop me an email.
thanks timepass, i’ll get with you offlist for some more of this. and i should have mentioned karsh k and midival punditz.
but i still think the offerings are pretty slim considering the enormous size of the potential supply and demand base… and they are still only rarely crossing out of the deep-desi/high-hipster crowd. (which makes MIA all the more noteworthy.) i guess the point isn’t so much that the artists don’t exist — of course they do — but that it’s hard to find them, and few of them are picked up by major labels or established/well-distributed indies.
(i’m considering the whole bhangra/crossover situation to be a separate matter — propelled by its own energy…)
i’d love to see an indian presence on the popular music market similar to that of mexico, with regional, folk and film sounds alongside cutting-edge electronica, hip-hop, and even some kind of equivalent of “rock en espanol…”
peace
Sid m, points taken. here’s how I break it down:
On the supply side, the offerings are still kinda slim because 20 and 30 something desis just beginning to explore artistic and cultural expression and it’s still at a pretty nascent stage, especially in the US. I’d say in 10 years or so there will be a full-blown desi diasporic arts/culture movement worldwide with brown people having made major inroads in music and related arts. We’re like caterpillars in the process of emerging as butterflies, or something like that.
On the demand side, I absolutely believe that we desis mostly have what I’d call ‘mainstream’ tastes in music. At best, the new progressive and forward-thinking stuff (such as Karsh, Dhamaal etc.) has a limited hipster demographic among the desi population. This is a small but pretty loyal group and if a segment of the general desi population follows these early adopters, then we will have a sustainable and thriving audience for new and exciting desi sounds.
But in order for this all to be truly sustainable, desi musicians have to reach out beyond their desi peer groups and build local, regional, national and global audiences for their music — because most of the fresh stuff coming out now is about crossing borders, boundaries and artifical lines of race, color, nationality etc. That’s a mouthful I know.
The bhangra crossover thing will not outlive its current hype — it kinda reminds me of the early 90s trend of merging Spanish sounds with rap and dance — ‘Rico Suave’ and ‘La Raza’anyone? I sure hope Raghav and Jay Sean don’t go the way of Gerardo. 🙂 Even Apache Indian had his day but his star has waned.
Finally, it would be really, really nice if everyone supported emerging artists — by buying their CDs, downloading tunes, going to shows… essential to keeping the movement alive and strong.
The chorus is a sample from the original song, ‘Sunshowers’ by Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band. AFAIK, she doesn’t sing the chorus.
oh oh oh oh, i’ve got one, me me, i’ve got one…anyone heard of Lal? Great band from Toronto. Founded by Rosina Kazi (with her ever-so-sweet voice) and Nick Murray. They are a homegrown staple here at urban South Asian festivals. But their sound can in no way be confined to the ‘ethno’ genre (yeesh, highly cringe-worthy term that). Some tunage on their site, more is available at Public Transit Recordings.
Manish: Yikes, foiled again. Anyway, I still don’t like it!
And Timepass, on your point (4) — the limits of the Bhangra crossover thing — I tend to agree. A key difference between what someone like MIA is doing and what Panjabi MC does is, MIA is rapping in English.
Whatever happens with diasporic desi art and music, for it to cross-over it will have to be in English. And that is anathema to the UK Bhangra scene, which places a pretty strong premium on Panj-thenticity.
Then again, as a counter-argument, look at the current success of Puerto Rican dancehall reggae (Reggaeton). I even picked up a remix CD last weekend in Edison which blends Reggaeton and Hindi remix — put together by DJ Ashu. It’s not a great CD, but it’s an interesting development.
neha, is anything interesting musically going on at the south asian festival thing in toronto?
thanks for the Lal link btw, toronto seems like a good spot for south asians to do something, so many of us here after all
I think you can take the point more generally: MIA mixes so many different cultural influences and styles and all that, that she’s much more rooted in diaspora and multiculturalism and globalism than in what’s traditionally been presented as “desi” art.
Her politics still seem shallow (if not outright counterproductive) and, I suspect, largely rhetorical radical chic.
sorry…I can’t get though a whole post on MIA without a little hate 🙂
“20 and 30 something desis just beginning to explore artistic and cultural expression …”
Please, restrict that to diaspora desis struggling to express themselves in their adopted mediums. Back home, music is alive and innovative. Consider just Rahman for film music, or Shubha Mudgal for classical.
Ananthan, The most popular of such events is Masala Mehndi Masti, it’s going on this year from 8/03-8/07. There has been no news of performing acts as yet. But last year’s masti was hella good (site). It was my first time and I found the music portion incredibly varied, from Rishi Rich to qawwali parties, all at the Harbourfront. I did skip the whole Shaimak Dawar ‘bollywood dance workshop’ and ‘dandi dhamaka’, those were a bit much. The Filmi festival was on at the same time, which focused on South Asian Canandian films. All in all, a good time, check it out in august…and if you get lost just let the Hondas lead the way 🙂
Saurav, definitely agree with your first point — it goes back to one of Timepass’s points, namely that sooner or later the desi artists need to expand beyond the desi-for-desi/hipster (implicit or explicit) artistic and commercial strategies.
MIA does this precisely because she is a desi in a musical movement, rather than a member of a desi musical movement. Her work connects with Dizzee Rascal and others, and has roots in such sources as UK Garage, ragga as well as turntablism and no doubt much more, that Timepass or someone else could identify.
I am interested in desi art per se, but far more interested in the “desification” or otherwise of hybrid artistic forms emerging in global urban culture. (whatever that is.) And that goes for more than “pop music” styles. Consider Vijay Iyer’s work in jazz, for instance.
peace
She’s great. but the abundant hipster love feels exoctizied. not my deal, I like her music, and maybe it will make non-desi women more interested in me, since I’m cool like MIA.
you know there’s desi women who love this MIA thing bc they get to be vicariously hip and “so hot dude”
can you not knock the desi women, dude? more of them are awesome (and frequently hot) and you should think about dating them 🙂
anyway, there are desi men who are doing the same lame thing you’re pointing to. obviously not me, though. i’m waaaaaaaaaaaay above that 🙂
I’m not knocking anything man, people get big upped by all sorts of things, there’s got to be South Asian women who like the attention MIA is getting as a vicarous thrill
I must admit I’m impressed by M.I.A. and her Arular album.
It made me think though, what ever happened to Raje Shwari, the indian woman that was featured on a whole bunch of rap songs, the biggest one being Timbaland & Magoo – Indian Flute. They were saying that she’d have an album but it never surfaced … the last thing heard by her is a 50 cent- Candy shop remix.
Anybody have any info or know who I’m talking about?
Raje Shwari also put out ‘Below the Waist’ with Beenie Man.
Neha and Ananthan
The festival’s info is up on http://www.masalamehndimasti.com for this year. It’s not a Harbourfront festival though. It’s run by a NFP called Satya Arts Association. They’ve also said that they are seriously courting a request from Ontario Place to move venues because Harbourfront has become too small.