Mia: "Arular"

M.I.A.'s debut record is both intensely urban and aggressively modern. The group's sole member, Maya Arul, infuses her blend of hip-hop and chunky electro with raw, tribal overtones and a healthy dose of sex appeal. There are elements of world music here, in Arul's multi-lingual vocal as well as the tonal shifts and instrumentation (like the drone that opens up "Hombre"). Her delivery uses a variety of yelps and tics full of street-wise confidence and bratty energy. But there's also an appealing melodic sense, like early Neneh Cherry or Miss Kitten when she's not in diva-mode. M.I.A. doesn't really sound like anybody; the music is just experimental enough to wiggle out of easy comparisons. The IDM-style bleeps and beeps of "Galang," for example, give an already catchy song extra punch. The only problem with the record, a common flaw for debuts, is a sameness from track to track which robs it of the ability to surprise. Still, Arul is hugely talented and her abundant originality packs a wallop. --Matthew Cooke - Amazon.com

Arular was first expected to be released in late 2004, but instead M.I.A. gave half of its vocals away to Diplo's Piracy Funds Backlash mixtape, which married her London Sri Lankan patois to music from New York, Rio, and Kingston. The mix highlighted her big-tent approach to global rhythms and Now Sounds, an M.O. that was cemented when she professed her love for hip-hop crew the Diplomats and rap's spiritual cousins, grime, baile funk, dancehall, and reggaeton in The New York Times. Faster than you can say "galang-alang-alang," M.I.A. became the one-woman embodiment of what to some is great about the contemporary pop music landscape. All that's left is for M.I.A. to draft Seba as producer and that voice that name-stamps dancehall tracks like a heavily drugged, vocoded Just Blaze as MC: "M.I.A. on... Bionic Ras... Baile Funk... Forward Riddim..."
Scott Plagenhoef - Pitchforkmedia.com

For Maya Arulpragasam, guerrilla tactics aren't a trendy tag for a shambolic gig, they're a way of life. Having survived the upheaval of moving from Britain to the rebellion-torn Sri Lankan homeland of her father, a freedom fighter, she came back to the UK only to battle her way through life on a south London council estate.
Like Vicky Pollard with a terrorist fixation, she throws images of bombs and murder in among tales of text messaging and adultery, spitting out threats like old chewing gum as she tries to make sense of the brutality of her two worlds. A fractured backing of hip-hop beats and dancehall rhythms is peppered with poetic slang. "I'm bongo with my lingo/ Beat it like a wing you/ Can't stereotype my thing yo," she sings in Sunshowers. Her street style, based on repetition and recognition, is beguiling and often unfathomable.
Betty Clarke - The Guardian

Parola di Bielle (Cosimo Pacciani)
Mi avevano preparato, gli amici. Un disco rivoluzionario, non solo nei suoni, nelle dinamiche sonore. Ma nell'approccio. Hip-hop, ritmi sintetici, quasi, anzi, sicuramente da drum box. Una copertina che potrebbe essere una dei Mano Negra o di qualche posse indiavolata. Ma lei e' una ragazzina asiatica, giovanissima, con una faccia disarmante che arriva dalle periferie inglesi, seconda o terza generazione di emigranti asiatici. Non mi ricordo da dove, Bangladesh or similia. Mica per ignoranza lo dico. E' che questo disco e' perfettamente in linea con Public Enemy, De la Soul, Arrested Development schiantati a duecento all'ora con Ms. Dynamite e gli Asian Dub Foundation. Ho una profonda passione per gruppi come le Zap Mama, cui MIA assomiglia in qualche maniera. Ma questa ragazza fa qualcosa di completamente diverso. Nuovo. Non e' bludy world music, che a solo veder la sezione nei negozi di dischi mi viene l'itterizia. Razzismo o cageismo culturale. No. MIA e' diversa. Urla quel che vede nel mondo e che non ama. Non condivide. Non ama. Dalla guerra in Iraq fino alla violenza attorno a se, delle guerre fra gangs di ragazzini indiani contro quelli di colore. Mentre il principino Harry si veste da kapo' e nessuno dice niente. Il circolo dell'odio. Del mucchio. Del gregge di pecoroni. Appropriatamente, nel libretto del disco scrive in fondo: You can be a follower but who's your leader? Break that cycle or it'll kill ya. Concetto che si applica al ragazzino che entra nella gang o nella posse armata, all'elettore di Bush od a chi continua a guidare i SUV.