M.I.A is not a pop star and let it be known loud and clear with her new self directed video “P. O. W. A”. Earlier this week, she previewed the video on Instagram and surprised and hyped the internet on the visuals before releasing the full captivating video single from her 2016 album A.I.M.

All around, M.I.A directs a stunning video packed with vibrant colors and beautiful scenery from the beginning to the end.  Just as political as she is a talented and exciting artist, M.IA continues to use her music to speak out about the issues on “P.O.W.A.”  M.I.A calls out fascist, racist, and POTUS; signifying her anti popstar lifestyle.

On the bright sid,e M.I.A will be curating this year’s Meltdown Festival held in London. M.I.A spoke on the upcoming event saying that she will bring back a key aspect to the festival.

Check out “P.O.W.A” below.

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While there will be a song that will simply be titled “Bird Song,” M.I.A. first releases the “Bird Song (Blaqstarr Remix)” version of the new track.

The song was released via Pitchfork, which also had more information on the song and its yet to be released counterpart. The non-remixed version of the song, M.I.A. says will produced by Diplo, while the remix is produced by Blaqstarr. According to Stereogum, the remix, rather than the version produced with Diplo, will be the one that will be on her new album AIM, which will be available September 9 through Interscope. Two songs from the upcoming album, “Borders” and “Go Off” (which was co-produced by Blaqstarr and Skrillex), have already been released, and the singer has also said that she will be working with Zayn Malik on the song “Freedun.”

The song itself contains many birds that M.I.A. says she is either like or not like, and uses wordplay often to include even more varieties of birds. This is all layered under bird-like noises that are constantly playing while she performs. If this song and the others already released are any indication, then fans have a great experience to look forward to once AIM is released.

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The post M.I.A. Releases New Song “Bird Song (Blaqstarr Remix)” [LISTEN] appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

It should come as no surprise, then, that her Twitter response to not having her “Borders” video shortlisted by the MTV Video Music Awards threw gleeful accusations of “Racism sexism classism elitism,” bookended by the hashtags #hahahahhaahahhaha and #dontwantyourlane.

“BORDERS came representing people outside US showing [the world],” she followed up. “This is a perfect example of ‘allowed’ voice vs excluded voices.”

MIA – BORDERS is not included in the VMAs #hahahahhaahahhaha!! Racism sexism classism elitism #dontwantyourlane!

— M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) July 28, 2016

BORDERS came representing people outside US showing ?. This is a perfect example of “allowed” voice vs excluded voices .Even if U direct it.

— M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) July 28, 2016

not here 4 EGO or Accolades but know before you tell other ? artists they have the same platform as major US artists coz they don’t #?

— M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) July 28, 2016

The video for “Borders,” which M.I.A. directed herself, places the artist in the middle of imagery which recalls refugee crises of the past decade, from the overcrowded flotillas, beaches, and encampments of the Syrian refugee crisis, to a reference to the Melilla border fence between Spain and Morocco which was challenged by African migrants back in 2005.

This comes on the heels of a controversy over comments M.I.A. made to the Evening Standard about Black Lives Matter earlier this year, which resulted in her being dropped as a headliner from the Afropunk Festival:

“It’s interesting that in America the problem you’re allowed to talk about is Black Lives Matter. It’s not a new thing to me — it’s what Lauryn Hill was saying in the 1990s, or Public Enemy in the 1980s. Is Beyoncé or Kendrick Lamar going to say Muslim Lives Matter? Or Syrian Lives Matter? Or this kid in Pakistan matters? That’s a more interesting question. And you cannot ask it on a song that’s on Apple, you cannot ask it on an American TV programme, you cannot create that tag on Twitter, Michelle Obama is not going to hump you back.”

Her comments didn’t land well with a lot of people, and for good reason. While her efforts to place the everyday nightmares faced by those who live in war-torn poverty before consumers of Western pop culture are noble, her comments came off as a snipe at the BLM movement and those who are working to keep it relevant.

They also betray a failure to see all struggles against the power structures that exploit people as inherently connected; focusing on one regional crisis doesn’t require diminishing another. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, that actually seems to be her point, but that point was lost in the irony of her own contradiction.

Her response to the controversy did little to resolve this incongruity:

A#blacklivesmatter B#Muslimlivesmatter. I’m not Muslim . My criticism wasn’t about Beyoncé. It’s how u can say A not B right now in 2016.

— M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) April 21, 2016

My question was,on American platforms what do they allow you to stand up for in 2016. This has been the number 1 question for me.

— M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) April 21, 2016

She almost has a point here. While there has been a very real push to keep BLM down as a fringe movement of extremists, and while the movement has still only had limited success in bringing national coverage to a select few cases of police abuse and neglect, major inroads have been made that have countered efforts against BLM and put their cause on the teleprompters of media pundits and politicians alike.

Muslims, on the other hand, have faced more than their fair share of neglect and human rights abuses across the world, but these have been almost completely overshadowed by fear and anger over terrorism that the vast majority of muslims have nothing to do with. Many muslims, or even people simply fleeing from countries associated with Islam, are being left to die, often on the boats and rafts that they fled in. They deserve a voice to speak up for them as well.

But where M.I.A. misses the mark entirely is in presuming that anyone is ever really “allowed” to speak on any topic of oppression. If that were the case, there would likely be no oppression to speak of. If BLM were allowed to do their thing unimpeded, then they wouldn’t have to deal with so much blow back at protests, and Beyoncé wouldn’t have been criticized so heavily for showing her support for them at the Super Bowl.

No one, strictly speaking, is allowed to speak on any subject, but they do it anyway and that’s what gives it importance. M.I.A. seems to understand this well, but her way of contributing to it is by sometimes manufacturing controversy where there doesn’t need to be any. And as a Sri Lankan refugee from Tamil Nadu whose entire career has revolved around bringing world music and the contentious issues that inspire it into mainstream culture, M.I.A. has never had any shortage of controversy, so what is she after?

It’s entirely possible that M.I.A. is troubled by her own success. For instance, her claim about what issues can’t be addressed by a song on Apple is contradicted by the fact that her video for “Borders” was actually released by Apple Music, a point which she acknowledged in an interview with Time Magazine as far back as December of 2015. She’s blowing down the doors to the system and finding herself a part of that system.

Perhaps that’s just the struggle of an artist who refuses to be gentrified by success. M.I.A. may have started out as a refugee from an embattled region of Sri Lanka, but after four hit albums, the artist has to actively work to stay connected to her roots.

Success often leads to complacency, and complacency is the death of activism. Many artists struggle with a fear of complacency, alongside the survivor’s guilt of having come from nothing and being thrust into wealth and recognition. M.I.A.’s own struggle with being a successful grown up in a world that wasn’t meant for her perhaps drives a lot of her need to be acknowledged by a system that she wants to reject.

“I feel like I should have died a long time ago,” she told the Evening Standard. “I’m surprised I’m still alive, to be honest. I came from war. When I was growing up I didn’t really think I’d live beyond about 25. I never thought I would be old enough to drive or have a house or raise a child. Having to do it is really difficult.”

M.I.A. wants to stay angry, and that’s alright. Hip-hop, and music in general, needs angry voices to contrast those that just want to indulge in the obscenity of riches that the industry affords to the few while the rest fight for crumbs below. But when that anger appears to be directed at important social movements, or artists who are getting recognition for said movements, it’s going to undermine the message you’re trying to get across.

Was M.I.A. snubbed by the VMAs? Perhaps. Was it because of racism, classism, sexism, and elitism? Maybe some of the above, maybe all, maybe none. But when a top contender for video of the year features a black woman from Houston belting from the top of a cop car in flooded New Orleans, it’s hard to accuse the VMAs of only rewarding that which is most agreeable.

It would be nice to see the plight of refugees featured in M.I.A.’s video getting some recognition at the VMAs as well, but we shouldn’t make the mistake of forgetting that awards shows don’t actually matter. They’re a fashion show that hands out gold stars for popularity. They’re not important.

What is important is that somebody, anybody, is out there reminding people that the struggle for human rights doesn’t stop at borders. M.I.A. does that better than most artists currently working, but for a lot of listeners her message is hard to swallow when she appears to be insulting Black Lives Matter on the side.

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Organizers of London festival AFROPUNK have announced that M.I.A. will no longer be the headlining act for the show due to take place in September.

On Friday, the festival organizers put up a message on their website announcing the news after M.I.A. made some controversial comments about the Black Lives Matters movement:

‘After announcing the situation with the artist and the community, a decision was agreed upon by all involved that M.I.A. will no longer headline AFROPUNK London.’

M.I.A. was vocal about the BLM movement earlier this year. Speaking to London’s Evening Standard, in April. She said the following:

‘It’s interesting that in America the problem you’re allowed to talk about is Black Lives Matter,” she told the magazine. “It’s not a new thing to me — it’s what Lauryn Hill was saying in the 1990s, or Public Enemy in the 1980s.’

In addition to this, M.I.A. expressed frustration over her belief that other political problems across the globe were not getting the same backing.

‘Is Beyoncé or Kendrick Lamar going to say Muslim Lives Matter? Or Syrian Lives Matter? Or this kid in Pakistan matters? That’s a more interesting question. And you cannot ask it on a song that’s on Apple, you cannot ask it on an American TV programme, you cannot create that tag on Twitter, Michelle Obama is not going to hump you back.’

Initially, the organizers at AFROPUNK had defended their headline choice and her comments in a previous statement they released last month:

‘The debate is healthy and as people who have long been silenced, we refuse to participate in silencing of other voices.’

But now it seems that those at AFROPUNK has gone back on their message as M.I.A. has received further backlash for her comments.

The UK rapper is yet to publicly react to the news.

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With H&M drawing their attention to the act of recycling, what better way to promote company efforts than through an interactive campaign that holds a powerful message. Of course this is no ordinary motion clip, since M.I.A. has joined forces to bring voice to the scene, and once more, style to a movement worth quoting. In fact, the message behind this entire landscape is best laid out by the musical sensation herself:

“Everyone has to decide that something has to be done regarding the environment right now.”

“Rewear it” adds a sense of energy and freedom visually, along with a clear sound that follows great levels of honesty and authenticity. Just as well, we have the “Paper Planes” artist to channel her thoughts, steering ideas that take off into a musical adventure. At the least, this track is certainly worth a listen.

By intertwining colourful presentation, team spirit and symbolic imagery; each clip is straight-to-the-point, supported by repetitive words that really drum home a concrete meaning. One thing’s for sure, this offering has been classically established from start to finish, designed to keep our imagination spinning. It is encouraging that such collaboration manages to uphold M.I.A.’s dynamic side, while simultaneously reflecting the companies aspirations, just before twisting this into something rather unique. With free-flowing choreography and an almost broken sound to match, it is clear that this journey speaks volumes all the way.

So what exactly is H&M aiming to do, you may be wondering? Well, the high-street brand is currently reaching out to their shoppers with the hopes of collecting 1000 tons of used clothing, therefore encouraging the act of recycling by taking the chain full circle. This may just be bold enough to keep buyers attuned, and with the level of competition present, at least the brand has M.I.A. on side to match their decisions:

“It just seemed like the logical thing to do, to get involved in a project like this and see how high-street brands are going to become a little bit more environmentally friendly and people-friendly. – I re-wear everything.”

Click play on the visual above and tell us what you think of H&M’s mission.

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Never shy when it comes to expressing her opinion, artist M.I.A. has popped out of her apparent hiatus to visually and lyrically voice out against several hot political issues in her new video, “Borders.” Utilizing a number of males, assumedly depicting refugees, M.I.A. performs surrounded by them with many references and literal depictions of boats filled with ‘refugees’ traveling to find safety in other lands. With many holding such strong opinions on the current topic of accepting refugees into America, this video will either anger you or make you even more of a fan of the expressive artist.

Watch M.I.A.’s new video for “Borders” below:

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