[caption id=”attachment_3476” align=”alignnone” width=”595” caption=”Courtesy of Jess Baumung, AUX TV”][/caption]

M.I.A. just dropped her latest mixtape, Vicki Leekx, as a free download on her site. Being the political person she is, M.I.A. chose the name Vicki Leekx due to the fact that it’s a play on the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks that’s been in the news recently.

The mixtape is definitely reminiscent of her most recent studio album Maya, which means that I’m a little disappointed. There’s a noticeable lack of catchy beats or lyrics; the whole thing just sounds rather flat, which is definitely surprising. You’d think that with fellow producers Diplo, Switch, Rusko & Blaqstarr helping out on the mixtape, the result would be nothing short of amazing. Check it out and decide for yourself.

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Yesterday, M.I.A. performed the track “Born Free“ from her latest album /\/\/\Y/\ on The Late Show with David Letterman. The performance was characterized by the singer having an entourage of look-a-likes singing and dancing along with her. Pretty strange if you ask me, but it’s something that I’m not surprised to see her do— it’s her way of addressing the recent criticism that’s been tossed around about how she’s fake and an impostor.

Making a surprise cameo appearance alongside M.I.A. and her posse was Suicide band member Martin Rev on the keyboards.

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M.I.A.’s third album /\/\/\Y/\ (MAYA), is now available for stream on her MySpace. After giving it a couple of quick listens, I’m surprised to say that I’m a little disappointed. I really _wanted to fall in love with it, since I still listen to _Arular and Kala on a weekly basis, but it didn’t happen.

I walked away thinking that there isn’t a standout song on /\/\/\Y/\. I know she’s been pushing for “XXXO” and “Born Free“ to be her hit songs ever since they were released a few weeks ago, but I just haven’t been feeling them. Maybe this album needs a little time to grow on me. Take a listen and decide for yourself:

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Thomas Wesley Pentz, better known by his stage name Diplo, is one of the hottest DJs/producers in the hip-hop/dance-funk genre today. To most people, he’s known for producing the 2007 smash hit single “Paper Planes” by M.I.A. But to others, he is one half of the collaborative side-project Major Lazer with fellow DJ Switch. Diplo is also owner of the Mad Decent record label, which has signed such artists as Blaqstarr, Boy 8-bit, Crookers, Rusko, and Toy Selectah.

Recently, Diplo sat down for an interview with Creators Project at Bob Marley’s legendary recording studio down in Jamaica. Check it out.

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British producer, singer, rapper, and political activist M.I.A. has just released the music video to her latest single, “Born Free”. The new song is a departure from M.I.A.’s dance classics that we’ve come to know and love (Bamboo Banga, Boyz, Paper Planes, and Amazon come to mind). As soon as I heard “Born Free,” I thought that the track sounded more like a punk-rock song with its jarring guitar riffs and muffled vocals. After a little digging, I realized that the song samples “Ghost Rider“ by the 70’s synthpunk duo Suicide. Talk about obscure.

Anyway, the content of the video itself is rather disturbing; US police round up all the red-headed kids in the city and cart them off into the desert to be killed. One part of the video depicts a young kid getting shot in the head at point blank range. Later, we see a bomb explode and kill yet another kid. It’s apparent that this video is a metaphor for what’s currently happening between the Palestinians and the Israeli Defense Forces. Most Americans view the conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis in the Middle East with apathy. But, when you substitute an unknown flag for an American flag, and dark-skinned people with light-skinned people, it becomes much more jaw-dropping. M.I.A. definitely has a controversial video on her hands, and that’s exactly what she wanted.

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