M.I.A. - Drama Queen

“London! Quieten down I need to make a sound!” Maya Arulpragasam demanded on her 2005 debut. She yelled over bongo beats and we listened. Now she is fully in command of the limelight, is she happy? “I’m a reactionary,” she tells Gigwise just after the release of her latest album, Kala. “Drama will always follow me around. But it’s ok… it’s all part of growing up, you just accept who you are.” The girl that goes by the alias of M.I.A has matured into her 30 years. She’s still making a noise, but in a different way. “When I was 18, I was like cocky, bitchin’ this, fuck that… I wanted to blow up the student loans authority; I had beef to shout about. Now I’m calmer… like a quieter storm. I fight in a different way, I’ve learnt to be aware.”

Consciousness is a major factor of being M.I.A. We may have assumed that her pool of influences couldn’t grow any futher, as ‘Arular’ saw electro, hip hop, dancehall, grime and baile funk contribute to the sound of the UK’s most unique artist. With roots in Sri Lanka, India and London, grabbing inspiration from various corners of the world has come easy to M.I.A, and this time round she presents an even more varied pot of cultures in her material. Rather than sit back and take calls from some of the most in demand producers around, she found a new love in the shape of Liberia. Meeting those affected by war and former child soldiers, she filmed a documentary about the state of the country with activist Kimmie Weeks. “Being in the music industry is a blessing and a curse. You have the chance to create, but you also have a responsibility because you affect people,” Maya says thoughtfully. “It’s all about doing good every day and spreading positive vibes.”

And what about events like Live Earth and Live 8, aren’t they sending out good messages? “I dunno… We wouldn’t need that stuff if we built those things into our daily living,” she muses. “Live Aid and all that stuff was good in the 80s. It’s hard for charities… but it’s the celebrities that I have a problem with. People should just help!” She recalls her recent experiences supporting a fellow headstrong female - Bjork. “She has a weird energy about her as a woman. We were in this town to do a show and she spread such positive vibes. There were birds singing and rainbows – we could even see a tornado going on! We could actually see it!” Maya exclaims. “I think that every artist has an aura and persona that develops and Bjork spreads such a positive energy. You can just feel it.” She recounts the part of the show where the Icelandic princess allowed her to get involved in the finale, clearly ecstatic at the trust the legendary songstress placed in her to play her instruments. “Now I wouldn’t even let myself play instruments!” she laughs. “But it was so good that she wasn’t afraid of me messing her show up. I suppose its something that you learn when you get older.”

With age came a higher calibre of collaborators. This time round Timbaland, Blaqstarr and Switch were just a few of the names that pitched in with ‘Kala’. “Blaqstarr makes club music and we made something different, it’s cool and exciting to open someone else’s mind up,” Maya says. “He’d never met a Sri Lankan from London before and I’d sit in his studio pad eating chicken and bailing him out of jail. He’d be like ‘why are you here?’ and I’d be like ‘but I like your music!’ It was a funny connection.” She is certainly one fearless female - especially after she reportedly allowed her Polish hairdresser friend cut her bobbed mane whilst he was on ketamine.