90’s to the Face!

Damn, M.I.A. is taking this 90’s thing full throttle. Not only is every body in her new video (filmed in Jamaica) dipped in 90’s throwback, her video and web stuff is all full of bad 90’s web design.

The video is a promo for her new single, "Boyz", which drops tomorrow, and the song is definitely a club banger. This joint is thumpin’, but after a while, I’m ready for it to be over. It really doesn’t do much. But, as I was reading the lyrics - which say things like "How many no money boys are Rowdy/ How many boys are Raw? How many no money boys are crazy? How many start a war?" - I was struck by her delivery, even if it is lacking in subject matter.

Maya is scheduled to perform in Brooklyn on two dates: on July 21 at the Village Voice’s Siren Festival, and July 25, at Studio B. These would be good places to listen to "Boyz", rather than here on your laptop.

She’s had a history of difficulties getting into the States and missing shows, though. Will this be any different?

The girl has quite the story, which might have something to do with her troubles. As a little girl in Sri Lanka, her father was part of an organization the US labels as a terrorist. And her song "Sunshowers" probably didn’t help, what with lyrics like: " You wanna go?/You wanna win a war?/Like P.L.O. I don’t surrendo," and " Its a bomb yo/So run yo/Put away your stupid gun yo/’Cos we see through like a protocol call/Thats why we blow it up ‘fore we go."

But she argues that she was only trying to show people around the world what things are like in Sri Lanka.

"When I did it, I felt, ‘Am I seriously imposing some weird, strange way of seeing things on people?’ " she told the Washington Post. "Now it feels I was right all along. It’s totally relevant, and it’s what’s going on, and if that was the most shocking, outrageous thing, then look what’s happening every day. . . . It’s not that I’m shocking and injecting into society some strange concept. I’m just reflecting, piecing it together in one piece of work so you can acquire it and hear it. All that information floats around where we are — the images, the opinions, the discussions, the feelings — they all exist, and I felt someone had to do something about it because I can’t live in this world where we pretend nothing really matters.

"I have to show people what’s going on in Sri Lanka. It’s much better than me banging on about myself and where I get my hair done. It seemed more of a useful thing to do with my music."