Yesterday M.I.A. called into Annie Mac’s BBC 1 radio show to remind the world that 11 years after Arula she’s still the queen of bangers. She was on the show to debut her latest track Go Off — a collaboration with Skrillex and Blaqstarr — from her upcoming album AIM.
With sharp hooks, world music references and searing lyrics it feels like a return to her earlier offerings. Something we assume was on purpose, considering she casually mentioned to Annie that AIM would be her last record. No wonder she’s feeling nostalgic.
Calling the upcoming release the cleanest and happiest album she’s ever done, she explained that she wanted it to show another side of herself that isn’t always visible to the public. She kept the positive vibes going by adding that she chose the unlikely pairing of Skrillex and Blaqstarr to demonstrate that her music is ultimately about bringing different kinds of people together. The blow was also softened by the promise she won’t be giving up music altogether, rather stepping back to try other things.
At the conclusion of the juicy chat she offered some thoughts on the video for Go Off. After the mammoth effort that was Borders— with its thousands of extras and huge production crew — she’s looking to do something much smaller. In fact there will be no people in it at all, laughing she insists, “I’m not messing with human beings right now”.
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Text Wendy Syfret
Image via @miamatangi