The loud lady from London has released her highly anticipated album that will grab anyone and everyone’s attention with its dancehall and reggae infused anthems. On “Kala,” M.I.A. steps outside the box once again and adds a new flavor to her music that’s a fresh touch in a day and age where mimicking music conquers all. This lies in the cross genre that’s at play. The album offers an array of quirky sounds that will cause many to classify the album as electronic, a genre that seems to be taking over pop culture with the likes of Justice and MSTRKRFT. There’s not much of a difference between this new effort and her highly touted “Arular,” so previous fans will definitely not be let down. The opening track, “Bamboo Banga,” gives the listener a hint of what they’re getting into as she samples Indian music over the catchy chorus of “I’m big timer/I’m the bamboo banga.” On others like “XR2,” the sirens that raged on her previous hit “Bucky Done Gone” are used again, rivaling the track on both word play and beat. On this album M.I.A. uses clever rhymes over a bass-driven dancehall beat to deliver powerful songs that are sure to get listeners dancing in both hip-hop and indie dance clubs across the nation. Not to say that this album will be an all-out pop success-far from it. The sound is still more raw, gritty and just plain noisier than any music out right now.
Marcos Col