Born in London to Sri Lankan parents, Mathangi Arulpragasam often uses the influence of her Asian heritage in a lot of her songs, most recognisably at the start of ‘Bad Girls’. M.I.A. burst onto the music scene almost twenty years ago and is still leaving her mark.
She is known predominantly for the song ‘Paper Planes’ which has around 5.5 million streams on Spotify. ‘Popular’ is a powerful self-love anthem for the modern day, but M.I.A. doesn’t stray too far from her musical roots. With lyrics like “Now you wanna be around me, ‘round me / ‘Cause I love myself, I’m living my best life”, it’s difficult not to feel empowered and to get into the rhythm of the drums in this song
Not only is ‘Popular’ a banger, but it’s also filled with celebrations of self-worth. M.I.A. is in her late forties, and still bossing the game and holding no prisoners - as her lyrics demonstrate, “Pictures of my body cause a stampede, ayy / If you cut me, success I bleed / If you don’t know, I’m a queen.” ‘Popular’ has already garnered popularity amongst fans of the singer too.
The single cover is a still from the track’s music video, in which M.I.A. trains a robotic influencer how to be like her. Her social commentary on the repetitiveness and vapidity we see during this age of influencers proves that her artistry is ahead of its time.
There hasn’t been much word on when her new album will be released, but she is set to perform at San Francisco’s Portola Festival at the end of September with other acts including Fatboy Slim, Charli XCX, and Flume, which will no doubt be iconic.
Sienna Norris
@sienna_louisee
Image: M.I.A ‘Popular’ Official Single Cover
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