Here’s Maya Auralgasm with her visa marriage fiancé, Benjamin Brewer née Bronfman, who snarls like Hendrix for The Exit (ht: khoof).
Brewer comes from one of Canada’s wealthiest families and is the son of Warner Music Group chief executive officer and chairman Edgar Bronfman Jr. [Link]
… The Exit[’s] biggest claim to fame might be having […]

A few bars of M.I.A.’s ‘Jimmy Aaja‘ float across a scene in the Adam Sandler comedy You Don’t Mess With the Zohan. It’s a scene toward the end, when the very funny top half dissolves into an incoherent mess. Jews and Arabs are standing around a burning storefront in homage to Do the Right Thing. […]

Adam Sandler as an Israeli commando in a Jewfro is intrinsically funny given his brand of passive-aggressive humor. Appending M.I.A.’s ‘Jimmy Aaja’ to the Zohan for its cheesy Eastern European sample is near sacrilege:

There’s whole ‘nother layer of cheese on that caquelon, Sandler-san, and it’s called Disco Dancer. There can be only one.
The Arulpragasam / […]

Licensing songs for movies is cool, and the Civic is virtually a Sri Lankan car. But Maya shilling for Bud Light is completely selling out. I mean, that swill is so weak it barely qualifies as beer:

M.I.A.’s ‘Paper Planes’ anchors the trailer for Pineapple Express, a weed smuggler comedy by the Superbad crew. The trailer is sync’d to the gunshots and cash register samples in Maya’s track. She’s also licensed tracks for the B-movie War and a Honda ad.
Seth Rogen stars. James Franco plays against type as a long-haired stoner, like […]

A woman in a sari walks into an office, adjusts her bra and presses a detonator. She de-parts in thirds, torso cleaved, her head arcing across the room. Here’s the gruesome, NSFW video of a recent Tamil tiger suicide bombing released by the Sri Lankan government (hat tip: khoofia).
One person was killed and two others […]

For all the hipster posing, Mathangi Arulpragasam is a typical desi. Beneath the misunderstood, art school retrowear beats the heart of a traditionalist:

She named her albums after her dad and mom
She makes her own clothes
She brags about what she can get for ten dolla
Some of her best songs are just Bollywood remixes
She came to America […]

Here’s Brasilian rapper Deise Tigrona performing the thrilling booty rap ‘Injeção (Injection)’:

Here’s M.I.A. doing ‘Bucky Done Gun’:

Lifting hooks is common in rap, and I’m sure this was credited and cleared. But ‘Bucky Done Gun’ is more than homage, it’s virtually an English-language remake.

The Man’s keepin’ him down

M.I.A.’s ‘10 Dollar’ plays in a writhing Asian topless club in the silly Jason Statham - Jet Li action flick War. A song about Third World sexual exploitation — it’s either ironic or apropos:
China girl was a little girl…She clocked him looking right at her And sucked on a lollipop…
Dial-a-bride […]

Officially unleashed in America this morning, M.I.A.’s new album Kala is wilder and less even than Arular. She’s got raw, political yet radio-friendly hits in ‘Boyz,’ ‘Bird Flu,’ ‘Jimmy‘ and ‘Paper Planes.’ ‘Mango Pickle Down River’ turns a didgeridoo drone into booty bass. The spare, whispered ‘XR2,’ which samples the Hum Aapke Hain Koun soundtrack, […]

Here’s the video for ‘Jimmy‘ off M.I.A.’s Kala. Like ‘Boyz,’ it references ’80s video games, but also the original Disco Dancer song (via PMH):

Here’s M.I.A.’s take on ‘Jimmy Aaja,’ from the classic tale about a young man’s sequin fetish, Disco Dancer (thanks, tipster):

When you go Rwanda CongoTake me on a genocide tourTake me on a truck to Darfur Take me where you would go
Got static on ya satellite phoneGotta get you safe at home Gotta get you […]

M.I.A. brought her sparse sound to Coney Island yesterday at the Village Voice Siren Festival. It plays well indoors but sounded weak on an outdoor stage. The new tracks, ‘Bird Flu’ and ‘Boyz,’ were powerful though. She also rapped over the Bollyclassic ‘Jimmy Aaja‘ from Disco Dancer, saying it’s a song her mom used to […]