It’s kind of been the thing lately for female artists
to take on an I Am Sasha Fierce attitude towards their work. Lorde is
outspoken, Miley rouses media outrage, Iggy Azalea swears like there’s no
tomorrow and fellow rapper Azaelia Banks…well we can’t say that she hasn’t
enjoyed getting her diva on.
Similarly, M.I.A. is back to confront the haters on
Matangi. When she raps, “systems shouldn’t operate by sticking me in a cage”
she really means it – having created an expressive album with so many
references that is difficult to describe.
The album opens with one big Om, before plunging
straight into heavy bass, profiling the spirit of the album: Matangi as the
Hindu goddess of speech, music, knowledge and the arts.
Maya’s voice becomes a rhythmic instrument where she
almost whispers on “Karmageddon” and then later chops up her own vocals on
tracks such as “Bring the Noize.”
The album picks up new influences, with trap elements
on second track “Matangi” and Major Lazer-style dancehall beats on “Double
Bubble Trouble.” Matangi also interweaves distorted sitar and animal roars into
R&B song craft and reggae percussion.
All of which means that M.I.A. pull diverse references
from the past two years: “Eat, pray, love/ Spend time in the Ashram / or I’ll
drone you /Kony 2012.” Ultimately, Matangi is not only futuristic in its sound
but also in her signature messenger-style lyricism.
And just when you think it’s deepening into the calm
and spiritual, M.I.A. breaks down the sound again bhangra-style (Punjab
Indian).
There are two tracks where she collaborated with The
Weeknd – “Exodus” and “Sexodus” – which are less frenetic tracks but with
Kanye-style introspection: “My blood type is no negative/But I’m too positive
that I’m too deep.”
“YALA” is one of my favourites off the album (you only
live always), as a response to YOLO – loud and full of attitude. But “Bad
Girls” is still the strongest song off the album as the middle-finger anthem
following her 2012 halftime stunt.
Published on adamNOTeve.
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