It seems her father was a leader of the Tamil rebellion attemptingto win independence from the Sinhalese majority, which made her earlylife one of violence, poverty and constant flight from governmentforces. Apparently, this background accounts for the political andrevolutionary overtones of many of the tracks on Arular,though I'm not sure I ever would have detected these themes had I notalready been aware of Maya's story. The Sri Lankan beauty has some goodbuzz behind her because of a pair of ace singles released last year—Galang and Sunshowers—thatintroduced M.I.A.'s signature combination of Timbaland-style beatcraft,Peaches-style electro, dancehall reggae and UK grime/garage-scentedhip-hop. Also there was the popular illegal mashup mix Piracy Funds Terrorism Vol. 1with Diplo, which pitted L.L. Cool J against The Clipse, Missy andCutty Ranks. Her debut is released on XL Recordings, home of DizzeeRascal and Basement Jaxx, both of who seemed to have informed elementsof M.I.A.'s sound. Most tracks are built from a Roland MC-505 beatboxspitting out pounding, distinctly dancehall-style beats, decorated witha myriad little squiggles and acid squelches. The emphasis on clean,laser-sharp, eyeball-vibrating synths bears more than a passingresemblance to Timbaland's production style, which is no accident, asit seems M.I.A. is trying to position herself as thepolitically-conscious, across-the-pond answer to Missy Elliott.Although she perhaps comes by it more honestly, M.I.A. also includes alot of the banghra and worldbeat elements that have become de rigeurfor all modern hip-hop post-"Ger Ur Freak On." Except for a fewpointless tracks of filler, the majority of Arular is raucousand entertaining while maintaining a certain kind of relentlessforcefulness that seems at once scary and sexy. It's the very model ofan entirely derivative sound palette, and M.I.A.'s vocal stylings andlyrics are in no danger of being admired by anyone, but the albumaspires the rarefied heights of alluringly disposable club culture. I'dsuggest that anyone interested in the album immediately go look forlabel advances in cutout bins or on your favorite RIAA-baitingfile-sharing service, because the official release of the album, whichwas scheduled for this Tuesday, has been indefinitely postponed becauseof an unauthorized sample issue. Enjoy. samples:
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