Photo: Suzi Pratt (Getty Images)
M.I.A. has generally been missing in action since the release of her fourth studio album, Matangi, back in 2013. Now, she’s back in a big way, teaming up with Skrillex and Blaqstarr for a new banger, “Go Off,” which will appear on her upcoming album, AIM, out September 9th. Premiering recently on Annie Mac’s BBC Radio 1 show, the classic M.I.A. cut harkens back to her Paper Planes days, with a bouncing beat from Skrillex, who is ironically part of Jack U with former M.I.A. producer and boyfriend Diplo, whom she has an estranged relationship with. I’m guessing the “d” stands for drama in this new EDM collaboration.
The Grammy-winning social raptavisit has actually been busy of late, slowly reintroducing herself to the world by appearing on “Temple,” a Baauer track with BIGBANG frontman G-Dragon, releasing “Rewear It” in support of World Recycle Week and dropping two politically-charged tracks “MIA OLA,” “Foreign Friend,” which all deal with pressing issues of immigration. Whether you like the recent material or not, we can all agree that it’s been a bit less accessible than her critically-acclaimed “Kala” album which had crowd favorites “Bird Flu“, “Boyz“and of course her most famous song, “Paper Planes.“
Fans should savor every song because M.I.A (real name Mathangi ‘Maya’ Arulpragasam) confirmed to Annie Mac that Aim is probably her final album before adding that she will still make music — very Tarantino of her. Speaking of directors, check out the English multi-hyphenate’s work behind the camera on “Borders.”
