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"Yeah, I got more records than the KGB, so uh, no funny business"
-Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam
If Sri Lankan hip-hop maven DeLon is to be believed, M.I.A. might not have been kidding when she said "All I wanna do is (bang bang bang bang)...and take your money." On July 29, he posted a remix video diss of the British rapper's "Paper Planes" on YouTube that claims M.I.A. used imagery from the Liberation Tiger Tamils of Eelam (LTTE), a Sri Lankan terrorist group.
-Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam
If Sri Lankan hip-hop maven DeLon is to be believed, M.I.A. might not have been kidding when she said "All I wanna do is (bang bang bang bang)...and take your money." On July 29, he posted a remix video diss of the British rapper's "Paper Planes" on YouTube that claims M.I.A. used imagery from the Liberation Tiger Tamils of Eelam (LTTE), a Sri Lankan terrorist group.
The video is a graphic montage of terrorism victims, child soldiers, and the lady in question, set to a remix of "Paper Planes" that has DeLon bellowing, "Yo, here's for all you people that really think that M.I.A. is a freedom fighter, trying to dress up like her and shit. Let me give you some facts..." It also makes the not-so-subtle insinuation that M.I.A. has traded in her agitprop bona fides for dolla dolla bills and the depiction is, to say the least, unflattering.
This probably couldn't come at a worse time for M.I.A., herself Sri Lankan, whose song is being heavily promoted for the film Pineapple Express, which hits theaters today. According to the video, which cites the FBI, the LTTE "perfected the use of suicide bombers, invented the suicide belt, pioneered the use of women in suicide attacks, murdered some 4,000 people in the past two years alone, and assassinated two world leaders."
DeLon has drawn attention as a rising star in the international hip-hop scene, especially for his willingness to stand up to the LTTE, and is the first Sri Lankan/American to ever make it to the Billboard charts. His video is no longer available on YouTube, as it was given a cease-and-desist from Interscope Records for "endangering M.I.A.'s reputation as a freedom fighter." As a result, he's now filing a lawsuit against Interscope/UMG for infringement of his First Amendment rights. The video, which is most assuredly not safe for work, can still be downloaded here, as well as his label's homepage. We'll keep you updated as the story unfolds.
Related links:
News: M.I.A. stops touring, maybe forever
CeylonRecords.com
M.I.A. on MySpace
Got a news tip for Paste? E-mail news@pastemagazine.com.
This probably couldn't come at a worse time for M.I.A., herself Sri Lankan, whose song is being heavily promoted for the film Pineapple Express, which hits theaters today. According to the video, which cites the FBI, the LTTE "perfected the use of suicide bombers, invented the suicide belt, pioneered the use of women in suicide attacks, murdered some 4,000 people in the past two years alone, and assassinated two world leaders."
DeLon has drawn attention as a rising star in the international hip-hop scene, especially for his willingness to stand up to the LTTE, and is the first Sri Lankan/American to ever make it to the Billboard charts. His video is no longer available on YouTube, as it was given a cease-and-desist from Interscope Records for "endangering M.I.A.'s reputation as a freedom fighter." As a result, he's now filing a lawsuit against Interscope/UMG for infringement of his First Amendment rights. The video, which is most assuredly not safe for work, can still be downloaded here, as well as his label's homepage. We'll keep you updated as the story unfolds.
Related links:
News: M.I.A. stops touring, maybe forever
CeylonRecords.com
M.I.A. on MySpace
Got a news tip for Paste? E-mail news@pastemagazine.com.
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