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M.I.A. Will Overthrow the System by Marrying Into It
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metropolitan
11/19/08

In reply to M.I.A. Will Overthrow the System by Marrying Into It
i think i can see her cooch, but what's with those freaky knees? did she not make it to platinum and just settle on copper?
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Mr. Kim Gordons Panties
11/19/08

In reply to M.I.A. Will Overthrow the System by Marrying Into It
So it's her brain that's missing in action. I never could figure out where she got that from.
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Smitros
11/19/08

In reply to M.I.A. Will Overthrow the System by Marrying Into It
As long as my sinuses clear I'm up for anything.
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hamburgerhotdog
11/19/08

In reply to M.I.A. Will Overthrow the System by Marrying Into It
Yeah, well Seagrams was also involved with DuPont Chemicals and Conoco where I'm sure they got A LOT more money than they did out of prohibition. Oil money is so subversive!
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Rasselas
11/19/08

In reply to M.I.A. Will Overthrow the System by Marrying Into It
If MIA did not exist, Sasha Frere-Jones would have had to invent her.
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somedayarealrainwillcome
11/19/08

In reply to M.I.A. Will Overthrow the System by Marrying Into It
I'd say the fact that she openly supports the Tamil Tigers as more of reason to denigrate her.
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Smitros
11/19/08

@somedayarealrainwillcome:
Aren't they the kindly folks who pioneered suicide bombing?
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lionel-mandrake
11/19/08

In reply to M.I.A. Will Overthrow the System by Marrying Into It
Let's talk about her childhood in war-torn Sri Lanka, and the reason her family became refugess. Her father fought for the Tamil Tigers, a violent terrorist separatist organization that's been doing their best to destroy that country for the last 30+ years.

Just so you know the politics, the Tamils are not native Sri Lankans, they are ethnically South Indian.

When MIA glorifies her family's part in "the struggle" it's akin to yelling "Yay! Hammas" or "Yay! Hezbollah", while the ethnic analogy is similar to the ethnic Russians trying to break away from Georgia in South Osettia.

Also, the Tamil Tigers are been big fans of leaving the decapitated heads of their enemies lying around in public.

But hey "¡Viva Revolucion!" or some such crapola.
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ambitious
11/19/08

@lionel-mandrake: But that's what makes it so unusual and exotic. Like, I can get a piece of that? Just by visiting iTunes. Now I feel like a rebel too!
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PrincessKashmir
11/19/08

In reply to M.I.A. Will Overthrow the System by Marrying Into It
I feel like questioning her street cred is like questioning why Ken's underwear is surgically attached to of his body. Neither of them are real people, and even if they were, it'd all be for show.
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ObtuseIntolerant
11/19/08

@PrincessKashmir: Sigh true. So who do we blame then....the performer or the fans who insistence it's all so REAL?
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ObtuseIntolerant
11/19/08

@ObtuseIntolerant: Removing the "ence", of course.
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minou
11/19/08

@ObtuseIntolerant: In my personal experience, at least, it is possible to enjoy her music without harboring any sort of illusion that it is REAL. So I blame the fans.
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Pinekatz
11/19/08

In reply to M.I.A. Will Overthrow the System by Marrying Into It
I just want her to do a song that won't stick in my head for two days and make me want to undergo a vodka lobotomy to make it STOP.

The wedded bliss? A lifespan of 10 months, max.
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ObtuseIntolerant
11/19/08

In reply to M.I.A. Will Overthrow the System by Marrying Into It
Her BS is the worst kind, to me...it's the sort of thing people who are basically mainstreamers buy into because they are being told it is "alternative" and so hip - give me a break.

There is no difference between the MIA option, and a kid picking Paramore over Miley Cyrus.

I mean - like what you like, but don't pretend it is more "legitimate" - which MIA fans precisely do.
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Heneage
11/19/08

@ObtuseIntolerant: I wouldn't go that far, if you listened to one of her songs back to back with Miley Cyrus it's clear that she does have a unique musical point of view and legit talent. Her problem is she's trying to have it both ways, being an "artist" and a "commercial success" - unfortunately in the music industry it's difficult to be both. Look at what happened to The Streets...
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ObtuseIntolerant
11/19/08

@Heneage: Oh, I didn't mean to compare her to Miley (who I am not out to defend here), more to Paramore as a phony "alternative to the mainstream" act.

BUT I do tend to give most people functioning in the industry the benefit of the doubt and credit them with having some level of legitimate talent for being able to perform and keep it all going. And even interpreting vocally without writing or playing an instrument takes a POV.

I do tend to dislike MIA because her content POV is so obviously phony. She could give shit about the system. She wants to be successful like every other performer....but her success is predicated on a lamely, obviously convenient "anti" stance.

But I like a lot of unpopularly popular things, so if you like her have at it, of course. But she just irks me so much!!
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Heneage
11/19/08

@ObtuseIntolerant: I guess all of us just ask different things from music. I could give a shit what the back story of an artist is (there are bands I love where I'd be hard-pressed to name all the members) I just evaluate whether I like them based on the music they produce. It doesn't bother me that Michelagelo was paid a ton of money by a corrupt organization to paint the Sistine Chapel, I just like looking at the pictures.

That being said, I can see why some people choose to evaluate an artist holistically - not just what they produce but what they say/do. I just don't happen to be one of them.
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ObtuseIntolerant
11/19/08

@Heneage: Well then you are most definitely not one of the reasons she irks me....because most of her promoters (including herself) are all about her "credibility" and "underground"-ness. Ack!

Probably, also, it is just not my type of music. I did totally buy some and check it out when she was first on the rise.
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minou
11/19/08

@ObtuseIntolerant: Part of what I like about her music is that it it so obviously, laughably, ridiculously NOT credible. As someone with absolutely zero street cred myself, I see the humor in the fact that I listen to her. It's like the blind leading the fucking blind. But for some reason, I still like the music. It makes me dance-y.
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Cheap Shot
11/19/08

In reply to M.I.A. Will Overthrow the System by Marrying Into It
I saw her hubby's band The Exit at Bowery Ballroom. They were'nt bad but I'm surprised that with his father's power, that they aren't big.

MIA, has said some dumb things but also some smart things. The one thing I hold against her is that for her debut album, she collaborated with Elastica's Justine Frischmann and conveniently forgot to credit her for hits like "Bucky Done Gun".
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seancasio
11/19/08

In reply to M.I.A. Will Overthrow the System by Marrying Into It
well, at least now she's starting to embrace materialism just like all the other rappers. never saw that coming.
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cockfightbarmitzvah
11/19/08

In reply to M.I.A. Will Overthrow the System by Marrying Into It
As someone who's become obscenely rich because by operating 3rd World sweat shops, I agree with her completely. I'm now gonna be totally cool by instead referring to those deplorable shops as big, illegal house parties. And guess what? Its always ladies night!
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southernbitch
11/19/08

@cockfightbarmitzvah: HA!
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ambitious
11/19/08

@cockfightbarmitzvah: Party from 6 am - ????? (depends on how long it takes for you to finish these Malcolm X t-shirts for the pop stars!)
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MAGGIEBETH
11/19/08

In reply to M.I.A. Will Overthrow the System by Marrying Into It
Aw, man. Now my anarchist friends are going to have to change their ringtones.
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ObtuseIntolerant
11/19/08

@MAGGIEBETH: Haha, "anarchists" with MIA ringtones. It's all so Ras Trent.
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tits.matilda
11/19/08

In reply to M.I.A. Will Overthrow the System by Marrying Into It
Oh wow, someone's opinions start to evolve as she speaks on the record -- how terrible! She should obviously come up with some fake hard-ass persona and stick to it.

Like none of the critics here were ever silly and young... or maybe they were always too afraid of being made fun of to say anything they hadn't heard on TV first.

She looks great, the outfit is RAD, and she's lucky in love. If that gets your panties in a bundle, try to enjoy it unless you have a partner in bitterness to bump uglies with.
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MissNormaDesmond
11/19/08

@tits.matilda: Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but I was silly and young and people made fun of me. And now I'm silly and old and they still do. And when they're good at it, I laugh along with them. Somehow I think a millionaire pop star who's shacking up with a billionaire scion wannabe pop star will survive the horror of people making fun of her on the Internet.
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minou
11/19/08

@tits.matilda: Fair enough, except that she's in her 30s if I'm not mistaken -- not exactly young and silly.
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tits.matilda
11/19/08

@MissNormaDesmond: Yes, most likely - but the level of discourse here is sinking. No longer are we pointing and laughing or sneering or snarking at or about much worthy of the effort. This is an easy target, chum tossed into waters filled with catfish.
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minou
11/19/08

@tits.matilda: I don't think she's necessarily an easy target either. Given that she makes good music and, previous to this recent spate of dumb statements, she seemed pretty smart, I think that she's a perfectly fair target. That was kind of the whole point of the post.
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tits.matilda
11/19/08

@minou: Well then, she's lucky enough to have had some screwed out of her. It will return after the honeymoon period. Maybe.

Wait -- I never read anything else she said that sounded particularly smart, but what I read was in pop music crap journals, and it's hard to sound smart in that. What are you referring to?
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ObtuseIntolerant
11/19/08

@tits.matilda: This seems pretty consisten with her fake hard-ass persona. Which I can not stand. Blegh.
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minou
11/19/08

@tits.matilda: It sounds like you are confusing yourself. I don't think she's an easy target, and I don't think she deserves the criticism, but I don't think she's being criticized because she's an easy target. I think, LIKE YOU DO, that she's being unfairly criticized because her public persona is evolving.

You realize that you're actually insulting her by calling her an easy target, right? Which doesn't really jibe with your original statements that we should all stop criticizing her?

The "the level of discourse here is sinking" comments are just really tiring to me, especially when they are totally inaccurate.
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hamburgerhotdog
11/19/08

@tits.matilda: If she stuck to talking about what she knows about, versus those which she is totally ignorant, then she wouldn't find herself as meat for the media grinder.

Ever heard of Sarah Palin? Yeah.
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Eleanor Ramilly
11/19/08

@tits.matilda: Oy. If her opinions are "evolving" maybe she should say that instead of pretending like her current situation doesn't undermine things she said in the past. Attempting to justify it with shoddy statements is what's silly here. "Honestly who gives a shit anymore, I'm in love," would've been enough.
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MissNormaDesmond
11/19/08

@tits.matilda: Wow, you were expecting discourse on this topic? I was expecting making fun of a hugely rich, privileged person who was trying to pretend that she's still, you know, all about the streets and the struggle.
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