AXIS|OF|LIVE

M.I.A., a.k.a. Maya Arulpragasam, lives up to her stage name on Kala, the follow-up to 2005’s Arular, representing the musicians of the world who tend to remain “missing in action,” overlooked by most popular artists of our time in favor of bland beats and overdone rhymes. There’s nothing bland about M.I.A., from her fresh take on traditional hip-hop beats to her boldly colored outfits, to her mesmerizing live performances: tight and electric, even though it’s just her, a background dancer and a machine. Kala adds to the multiple levels of her one-woman sonic show, bringing the sounds of India, Africa, Australia, and more to her unique voice. M.I.A. has already made a name for herself and now she’s inviting the entire world to the party, effectively striving to, as she says, “put people on the map that never seen a map."

“Bamboo Banga,” the album’s opening track, lets us know that M.I.A. means business, getting things wired with sing-song lyrics, informing us with all the authority of a total force of reckoning, that Kala is a “jungle banga”—no, wait, a “cold jammer.” This motion is seconded with the rallying cry of “Power! Power!” and we’re immediately schooled in the ways of M.I.A.: she’s not a flash in the pan, nor a bewildered vocalist looking to big-time producers for success—not that she doesn’t have a killer back-up team. In her recent, provocative interview with Pitchfork Media, she put her foot down and insisted that despite the collaborative efforts of producers such as Diplo, Switch and Timbaland, her music is all her own, her own story. And how could it not be? Kala offers glimpses of M.I.A.’s youth (“Jimmy,” the glitzy, radio-ready cover of a Bollywood classic that she loved as a child) and her own unadulterated perspectives, as in the dense and heavy “Hussel,” a tough but important song where guest vocalist Afrikan Boy reminds us: “You think it’s tough now, come to Africa.”   

Female musicians like M.I.A., unafraid to speak their minds and separate themselves from the pack, are a rare blessing these days. Though she was meant to record most of Kala in the US with Timbaland, VISA problems kept her from doing so—another blessing. The one Timbaland number that makes it onto the track list, “Come Around,” is a catchy dance floor song on its own, yet it sounds timid next to the rest of the album, so much more paint-by-numbers. One has to wonder what the dude is even thinking, following up M.I.A.’s rhymes of “In a faraway land, we got shit made / Ray-Ban shades, warheads laid / Babes born in air raids,” with his plea to “let me hit that.” This amusing (and purposeful?) juxtaposition turns out to be a perfect example of M.I.A.’s alternative to what’s already out there in hip-hop, rap and dancehall, and what’s been regurgitated to death. She speaks from the perspective of the vulnerable but proud immigrant in “Paper Planes,” the troubled revolutionary in “20 Dollar” (“Do you know the cost of AK's up in Africa? / 20 dollars ain't shit to you but that's how much they are”) and (heaven forbid?) the feminist in the brilliant “Bird Flu,” talking back to the men who are always “jumpin’ girl to girl, make us meat like burgers/ when I get fat I’ll pop me out some leaders.” If only we had more leaders like M.I.A., who manages to represent the unheard while making us dance, and always refuses to settle for less.

CD Rating: 5 out of 5