Listen to M.I.A.’s newly-leaked song “Born Free”
The first salvo from the M.I.A.camp has finally emerged: after a blimp
over Coachella proclaimed the imminent arrival of her
as-yet-untitled album (due out on June 29th), we now have a released track which
may or may not show up on said album. If you were expecting a dance-tastic
mish-mash of world music styles and hiccup-y rap hooks, then you are... going to
be completely thrown by the low-tech scuzz bomb that is "Born Free". Some are
attempting to contribute the track's gritty fuzz to the album's alleged
production contribution from out-of-nowhere mega-rockers Sleigh
Bells (a recent signee to M.I.A.'s label imprint N.E.E.T.), and some have made
note of the "Born Free"' writing credits being shared with
Suicide's Martin Rev and Alan Vega: Did they even listen to the track? Are they
familiar with a song called "Ghost
Rider" that the track samples heavily for it's main hook? I'm
going to guess that Mya had about as much personal interaction with Messrs. Rev
and Vega as Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock did with Lyn
Collins when they made "It
Takes Two".
Aanyway... I'd imagine that anyone
who was a fan of M.I.A. back when tracks like "Galang" and "Bucky Done Gone"
were blowing up will probably be listening to this to see if she is going to go
for the pop jugular after the somewhat unexpected success of "Paper
Planes", the belatedly ubiquitous main jam from Mya's
otherwise relatively oddball 2007 lp Kala. The verdict? Well, if you aren't a
fan of M.I.A. at this point, this probably isn't going to be the track to
convert you-- but if you can handle her unique voice and phrasing, her gift for
dramatic reading and sing-song-y rhyming and wordplay is still in full effect.
"I don't need to talk about money/Cuz I got it/And I don't wanna talk about
hoochies/Cuz I been it" is perhaps an indication that this time around she might
be addressing some new and different concerns, but it's kind of hard to tell
from this teaser. Indeed, the word is that this track isn't necessarily
indicative of what the album will sound like at all, and for all we know it may
not even wind up on the album-- kind of like when the track "Hit That" leaked in
advance of Kala in the summer of
'07; what would have been one of the best tracks on that album is now nothing
but an untagged mp3 floating in the ether of the interwebs. But that's part of
why we love M.I.A.-- her unpredictability and flair for drama is something the
world of music culture desperately needs.
DOWNLOAD: M.I.A., "Born Free" (Hype Machine)
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