Rye Rye and M.I.A. Sunshine/ U.S. Girls Red Ford Radio

This is my favorite song right now and it's not underground but I'm glad because I want everyone to hear it like it's the beatles or the rolling stones so it is still a part of jigsaw fanzine

May I suggest listening to Buzz Chant by U.S. Girls right after this song? or how about this one instead:

Actually if this was a mix tape I'd put Red Ford Radio on as the first track, followed by Sunshine xo DJTV

MIA=Coolest Lady Ever!

us underground types don't often find much to get excited about re: music awards shows, but this year on one of the biggest music business awards shows, MIA performed live, 9 months pregnant. it was on youtube but it's gone now. if you didn't see it, you should try to get a copy of it, because it was pretty amazing. of course traditionally working women have often worked up until their due date and many still do, out of necessity. for MIA to go on TV this pregnant (in a revealing outfit no less!) not only challenges patriarchal roles about how women are supposed to act when they become mothers, it also can be read as an act of solidarity with working women (and mothers) everywhere. she totally rules.

M.I.A. on Tavis Smiley: Genocide, The War on Terror and Social Change Though Music

also check out today's wall street journal for an amazing interview with her:

WSJ: You're nominated for an Oscar and a Grammy as the conflict in Sri Lanka is heating up, with accusations of very ugly behavior by both sides. Does that make for a bittersweet moment?

M.I.A.: I'm also nominated for a Brit Award in England. But for me nominations are not like a musical thing. It's more like me having a platform. The point of success is being able to tell a wider audience about the situation in Sri Lanka.

Your lyrics address issues like human trafficking and guerrilla warfare in a telling-it-like-it-is, almost amoral way that's similar to the way gangsta rap treated drug dealing and urban violence in the 1990s. Do you see a connection?

I've seen, with my own eyes, a lot of s- go down. I've seen people get massacred in front of me. My school was burned to the ground when I was 6 years old. When you come from that kind of background, you do become matter of fact, and tell it like it is.

What do you say to critics, like the Sri Lankan rapper Delon, who accuse you of glorifying terrorism?

If you think lyrics about guns are bad, I shouldn't have been shot at when I was 7 years old.