Facing practical blackballs in the U.S., Jamaican dancehall kings Beenie Man and Buju Banton must suspect that flimsy citations of incendiary speech and marijuana possession stem from much broader suppressions. Sri Lankan exile Maya Arulpragasam recognizes such cultural embargo as a result of anti-terrorism hysteria.
“When you fight terrorism it’s hard to tell terrorists apart from civilians,” states the daughter of Sri Lankan civil war leader Arular. “Throughout the Sinhala-Tamil conflict innocents have been profiled and put in jails without hearings. Civil rights disappear along a slippery slope to the point that entire populations can literally be wiped out.”
Performing as M.I.A., Arulpragasam recently shrugged knowingly as MTV refused her “Sunshowers” video. “I was told that they took issue with the overall atmosphere of the song, not just the ‘like PLO we don’t surrendo’ line.”
Clarifying the irony of an American entity that would limit her free speech, M.I.A. defers all accusations to their true source.
“The No. 1 most powerful human being in the world is George Bush, and it’s he who sets an example of violence. The basic language becomes war and displacement. All I did was make an album using his words. I am a refugee. So my point is that if you don’t like me talking like that, then stop showing me how to talk like that.”
The politically charged MC of such manifestos as “Pull Up the People” reiterates that “if you keep making kids grow up in an environment that says they’re the other, they will act it. And the more you fight them, the more they will multiply.” Stating the obvious, which is that protest usually doesn’t appear out of thin air, M.I.A. traces her belligerent attitude back to suffering the consequences of growing up without a father.
“The only thing I knew was being a kid at school and having the army sweep us away.”
Responding with positive yet unforgiving energy, M.I.A.’s sonic barrage matches the intensity and thus the controversy of her revolutionary resolve.
This article appears in March 18 • 2005.