M.I.A.: Starts From Scratch

M.I.A., the Mercury and Alternative Turner Prize-nominated, travel visa-rejected, daughter of Tamil activist-turned-militant, trend-setting electro queen, has been trekking across the world. It's all been about gathering influences, knowledge, friends and enough fizz-popping funk to release her new album, Kala. And with it, Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam is ready to rule the underworld all over again. ChartAttack talked to her about the new record, visas and her mom.

ChartAttack: Did you have a clear idea how you wanted your new record to sound?
M.I.A.: No, none at all. I had finished touring with Gwen [Stefani] and then I did another tour through Australia and Japan. Then I stopped in India 'cause my mom was there at the time. But within a couple days I was like, "Shit, I'm starting to get really bored." I just kind of looked around for inspiration and didn't properly have any concrete ideas until I came back to London and I couldn't get back into the States. I was like, "Shit, let me just go back to India and work it out." So the album, the sound and the content of it grew as it went along due to the scenarios I was having to go through.

So, you had a totally different mindset going into this album than you did with the first one?
I was in a totally different place because they kept refusing me visas... I actually had to start from scratch for this album. In the beginning I sat in my bedroom and felt really frustrated about what was going on in the planet, commenting on big issues 'cause I was getting things shoved down my throat everyday. But on this one I had to live it out because they were like, "No, you can't have a visa." "No, you can't come in." "No, you can't go to your house." So I was like, "Shit, I don't have the demos or any of the old shit I worked on. I have no equipment. I can't really hear music loudly in my house... all my photos, my stuff, my clothes, my artwork, any inspiration." It was just really, really annoying...

In more pleasant situations, in the "Boyz" video, it looked like you were having so much fun! Do you always try to have fun, or is there a serious Maya?
The "Boyz" video was a lot of fun to shoot because we'd have to shoot under a mango tree with hookers in the red light district. It was a challenge. But we had fun with the Jamaican boys. We had to go see them dance and then let them battle and show off. Sometimes I had to put those Jamaican boys in their place, though. Sometimes I think I should be more serious and put out some serious studio work, but I can't choose that right now.

Because the album is named after your mom, did you feel a pressure to do her justice with this album?
No, I only named it after her because it was fair. She is, after all, the one who spent her life raising me. My parents are very competitive people, though. My dad is all like, "Oh, I'm going to save the world" and my mom is like, "I'm going to raise these children." So now they both have an album named after them. It's up to them to fight amongst themselves.

What producer surprised you the most working with?
Dave [Taylor, a.k.a. Switch] I guess because we ended up making the whole album together. Whereas Diplo and I get along really well, Switch was able to produce brilliantly. We get along better. We have a mutual understanding, bounce ideas off one another. I can stay in the same clothes for three days with him, get stoned with him, get sick with him. There are no egos when we're working together, which is important to me and he really encourages me to do better things.

I read somewhere that you are a person who is "eager to identify herself with the unprivileged." Is this fair?
I don't even know what that means! I mean, I came from that, I guess what it could mean is that I haven't forgotten my roots, which I haven't. Now that I don't have the financial difficulties that I did before, I still don't understand the way everyday people live. Everyday people live in London and go further and further into debt. I just find that incredible that people live like that here, in the first world, so imagine what it's like in the third world. Then throw in some AIDS, typhoid and people stealing your goats!