M.I.A.
M.I.A. Gets Back to the Dance Floor With ‘Beep’
M.I.A. continues to preview her upcoming album MATA with the release today (Sept. 30) of the made-for-the-dancefloor track “Beep.” The artist raps about her ascent from a rough-and-tumble upbringing to “the top 10” while also reminding, “I’m not a politician and not U.N.” [embedded content][embedded content] Recorded in London, Los Angeles, Italy, Bali, and Jakarta, MATA is the follow-up to 2016’s AIM. “Beep” is the second single, on the heels of “The One,” which was released in May. M.I.A. previously contributed to Travis Scott’s “Franchise,” which also features Young Thug and was released in September 2020. MATA will be released Oct. 14 on Island Records. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving ...
M.I.A. Twerks and Kills Her Robotic Likeness in ‘Popular’ Video
M.I.A. has shared her second single of 2022, “Popular,” ahead of her upcoming sixth studio album, MATA. “Popular” is an ode to the pressures of keeping up with appearances and the Kafka-esque onslaught of social media. The video plays with this idea via an M.I.A. “influencer-bot” called M.A.I. learning all of M.I.A.’s movements. [embedded content][embedded content] With a creepy plastic face that looks like M.I.A., M.A.I. practices dance moves, selfie-taking, and smoking cigarettes to be more “Popular,” just like Glenda lending a mirror to Elphie. But poor M.A.I. is killed by M.I.A. at the end when she shoots her dummy with a water gun (apparently, like the Wicked Witch of the West, robots in M.I.A.’s Oz are impaired by water.) Recorded in London, Los Angeles, Italy, Bali, and Jakarta, MAT...
M.I.A. Confirms First Album in Six Years, Drops New Single
M.I.A. has confirmed that MATA, her first album in six years, “is on the way” as part of a new global record deal with Island Records. The first single from the project, the Rex Kudo and T-Minus-produced “The One,” is out now. M.I.A. previously revealed the album’s title in an Instagram post last November, when she said it was a way “to reflect where I am [and] what we want to build.” MATA is the follow-up to 2016’s AIM, which featured collaborations with Zayn, Skrillex, Elastica’s Justine Frischmann and Blaqstarr. Despite the long stretch since her last album, M.I.A. hasn’t been completely off the radar. She guested alongside Young Thug on Travis Scott’s 2020 No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Franchise,” her first chart-topper as a featured artist. She also put out a new song, “Babylon,” last ...
The 35 Best Videos of the Last 35 Years
SPIN launched in the peak MTV era, when an innovative — or even just salacious — music video could make or break an artist. Thirty five years later, YouTube is an obligatory part of any promotional push, but no one’s counting on a mind-blowing clip to sell a record. (The views do often matter — just not always the creativity.) A sizable chunk of the best videos came out during the ‘90s alternative bloom, when directors like Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry and Hype Williams experimented with the style and substance of this malleable medium. But the format hasn’t died with MTV: artists like Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar and Miley Cyrus all made this list for a reason — and it wasn’t to meet a decade quota. Here are the top 35 from the last 35. Ready or not, here we go again. – Ryan Reed 3...
Nigerian doctor named one of TIME’s Most Influential People in the world
TIME named Nigerian physician Tunji Funsho to the 2020 TIME100, its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. The full list and related tributes are available now at time.com/time100, and Mr Funsho’s TIME100 profile is available here. The list, now in its seventeenth year, recognizes the activism, innovation and achievement of the world’s most influential individuals. Mr Funsho, a cardiologist based in Lagos, Nigeria, is the first Rotary member to receive this honour for the organisation’s work to eradicate polio, having played an essential role in ensuring Africa’s certification as wild polio-free in August of 2020. “I’m honored to be recognized by TIME for my part in ensuring that no child in Africa will ever again be paralyzed by wild polio, a disease that once disabl...
M.I.A. Drops New Stay-At-Home Club Anthem ‘CTRL’
Welcome back, M.I.A. The decorated British rapper and singer released a new track, “CTRL,” on Wednesday (Sept. 9) via her website OHMNI.com. But she has a message for fans who might think it’s a single from her next album. “CTRL! A SONG FOR 2020,” M.I.A. wrote. “This is not a song from M.I.A.’s upcoming highly anticipated IIIIIIth LP. It was made for the HERE + NOW, TODAY.” The booming track and colorful electronic visuals would be perfect for a club setting or rave, but with the way 2020 is looking, it might just be the stay-at-home club banger of the year. M.I.A.’s latest release was “OHMNI 202091,” which dropped just as much of the world was shutting down in March. Before that, her last full body of work was her 2016 project AIM. Back in July, we saluted the 10th anniversary o...
The Revenge of /\/\/\Y/\
As the 2000s became the 2010s, no artist looked more poised to transform the landscape wholesale than Mathangi Arulpragasam, whom most millennials know as M.I.A. A brilliant Sri Lankan musician, political disruptor, and cultural synthesizer from London, she made music almost entirely about being exiled by birthright, about her complicated relationship with societal upheaval having an activist father with links to (but not, as oft-believed, actually in) the LTTE, about how rich music itself becomes when you look outside of spaces colonized by Western whites. Then she ate a truffle fry. It’s instructive to look back on how deeply M.I.A.’s and Kanye West’s paths diverged as the 2010s took shape. Both were cutting-edge royalty beginning in 2004, pulling just about every musically inclined pers...
The 101 Best Albums of the 2010s
Why now? Because — and there’s no reason to ignore the elephant in the room: SPIN stewardship has changed hands many, many times since we made the online jump — we got our chance. Because plenty of our favorite albums of the last 10 years could still use a boost. Because some of the already unanimously beloved music on this list still merits further praise. Because we relish excuses to sound off on the music that’s affected us the most and to enlist some of our favorite writers to do so. Because the works of art below serve as a reminder that the 2010s weren’t all bad. Because lord knows we need the distraction. Because it’s fun. There’s a lot of music that isn’t on this list. Which, duh, but plenty of artists whose work defined the decade for many, many people, including many of us, ...
The Best EDM Songs for Exercising At Home
It’s no big secret that music is the key to a more productive home workout. True enough, a study by post-doctoral scholar Cassie Ellis found that people do in fact play music to motivate them to exercise. Additionally, Ellis discovered that music guides counting, so the tempo greatly matters depending on your routine. For instance, music with a tempo of 120 to 140 BPM pumps more people up during aerobic workouts. However, slow exercises are much more appropriate for music below 120 BPM. In terms of tempo, there’s no genre more diverse than EDM. As such, it’s definitely possible to create a playlist with music that compliments every phase of your routine. Here are five of the best EDM songs you need to boost your home workout routine. M.I.A. – Sunshowers For many people, the har...
