Is M.I.A. sample clearance delay a hoax? Many rumours of Major Label Signing In The Works

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

I hear it is either Interscope or Island Def Jam. LA Reid and Jay Z have been courting her. The word is XL has lost her, for the USA at least....Thoughts? Surprise? Outrage?

― ENONYMOUS, Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:04 (twenty-one years ago)

i've been hearing this for a while too. the sample clearance thing was always suspect.

― mark p (Mark P), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:07 (twenty-one years ago)

i've been told that P.Diddy has signed them in the US. Seriously. The shame, the horror. The videos? Might be skin-tastic. Though Maya looks to be a bit chunky to be in a Diddy Vid.

― biznotic, Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:12 (twenty-one years ago)

that's juicy. she can sign to whatever she wants. i've listened to the album so many that times I've lost any quasi-rockist, "B-b-b-but she can't go overground!" sentiments I might have held. it's already a classic in my book.

― poortheatre (poortheatre), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Quick, what major label collabos prospects do you drool over now?

Crunk'n'b with Lil' Jon.

― Matt Chesnut, Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:18 (twenty-one years ago)

I think it is a better idea to be on a major hip hop label. i dont think XL are good at breaking acts that lean more towards the Urban market, but somehow only get bought by white hipsters, at least this is true for the USA. I wonder how many black men and women, who would purchase G Unit or Jay Z records bought Dizzee Rascal, or Wiley for that matter....it actually might be her best chance to get to the widest audience possible. No shame in that at all. The whole Matador/XL alliance with Urban Music (UK and US) has ultimately not been successful and this album could appeal to a much wider audience than XL might be capable of.

― ENONYMOUS, Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:22 (twenty-one years ago)

she has a much better chance of a hit w p diddy.

I was watching making the band tonight. That show isn't bad. Not great either.

but p diddy is awesome. Who heard the song he did w felix da housecat? It was weird.

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:25 (twenty-one years ago)

the DJ Hell collab./track was the worst. Just awful. But Making The Band is an amazing show. Series 3 starts Thursday. Those are repeats.

― ENONYMOUS, Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:28 (twenty-one years ago)

I wonder how many black men and women, who would purchase G Unit or Jay Z records bought Dizzee Rascal, or Wiley for that matter....
Even more important (as market share) - how many white men and women who would purchase G Unit or Jay-Z records bought Dizzee, etc.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:30 (twenty-one years ago)

milo is right of course but that misconception is very interesting to me.

I wonder if the alignment between african american taste and popular taste when it comes to african american music has ever been more in sync.

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:33 (twenty-one years ago)

WAY WAY more, I would reckon. I bet almost half the sales of rap music is white kids/yound adults, where the buying audience for Dizzee is probably way more white than black. I mean it came out on Matador, not that it should matter, but they dont market to the same people in any way at all. His videos are played on Subterannean next to Interpol and The Bravery. Fat chance of a crossover!

― ENONYMOUS, Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:35 (twenty-one years ago)

(I assume that was an xp)

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I hope that it's true and she signs with a powerful major. I want these songs to be real hits. I want "normal" people to hear this record and love it as much as I do. I want "10 Dollar" and "Galang" and "Bingo" and "Sunshowers" and "Pull Up The People" to be on the radio. That would be fucking amazing.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:39 (twenty-one years ago)

commercial for new making the band on mtv "p diddy has his sights set on the future of music..."

― artdamages (artdamages), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:40 (twenty-one years ago)

re: Perpetua: That is pretty much what i am saying. And I think XL would not have the radio/marketing muscle to do such a thing. It takes a lot of experience and a lot of money. And it would be really refreshing to actually see her on TRL,not Subterranean.

― ENONYMOUS, Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:42 (twenty-one years ago)

how will m.i.a. be marketed? as a grime artist?

who will tvt sign? lethal b?

― artdamages (artdamages), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:47 (twenty-one years ago)

you're all completely on the pipe, but I'm not against this TRL fantasy coming true.

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:49 (twenty-one years ago)

spliff not pipe. and why are we all "on the pipe"? which part?

― ENONYMOUS, Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:52 (twenty-one years ago)

anything involving MIA going nuclear just cuz she's on a major. Sure worked for Built To Spill!

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Stereolab signed to Elektra! ZOWEE!

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:53 (twenty-one years ago)

will 'galang' be rerecorded with puffy saying 'uh huh, yeah' over the chorus?

will loon do a verse on "10$"?

― artdamages (artdamages), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:54 (twenty-one years ago)

but miccio you are taking about indie bands. a number of m.i.a. songs could fit on urban radio.

― artdamages (artdamages), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:55 (twenty-one years ago)

uh huh, yeah

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:56 (twenty-one years ago)

i just don't hear a "get busy" or a "buffalo stance" or anything else that would be a real crossover.

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:57 (twenty-one years ago)

again, I'm not against it doing well and in fact would love it too. But lyrically it doesn't slip into the mold and I don't hear anything with enough grab to be a novelty hit.

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:59 (twenty-one years ago)

i'm tempted to agree w miccio but i'm not entirely sure i'm right. I'd need to listen to it again, and i misplaced my burned copy.

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:01 (twenty-one years ago)

And I'm not saying she's gonna be cult for life, necessarily. If she actually joins some clique, collaborates with the already successful (along the lines of the "Goodies" remix) and plays the game I could see something from a later album doing big.

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:04 (twenty-one years ago)

well shes no emo duran duran

― artdamages (artdamages), Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:04 (twenty-one years ago)

damn straight!

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:06 (twenty-one years ago)

right now she's the indie sean paul

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, there's no novelty hit cos it's not a novelty record. If it breaks it would break without that kind of taint, which is a good thing, don't you think?

I don't think it's thaaaaat far removed. It's different, and that might be exactly the right thing right now.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:10 (twenty-one years ago)

i guess shes indie cause shes got a shitty voice. but what about sunshowers? cmon! get someone to do a good guest verse and its a hit!

just wait till she does a tsunami relief song! xpost

― artdamages (artdamages), Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:14 (twenty-one years ago)

well if it ain't novelty it'd be the signifier of some nirvana-style explosion of a new politics-not-sex world culture shtick in American popular music then rah, rah, we could use it and better urban radio exposure (which is friendly to the beats) than the XL route but god aim low bros

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't think MIA would be megapopular, but just to be on a real mainstream radar and get some play on pop/hip hop stations would be a big thrill. My thing is that I think there are a lot of people who would really be into it, and I'd just like for them to have easy access to her music. It always sucks when stuff you know a lot of people would like never reaches them due to the cynical nature of the marketplace. You can't blame people for not being into stuff they don't know about.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:18 (twenty-one years ago)

But lyrically it doesn't slip into the mold and I don't hear anything with enough grab to be a novelty hit.

How would her lyrics stop her from having hits? Seems to me the hooks and beats are what matter. She's got the hooks. The beats could maybe use a little work, but if there was a major deal, wouldn't there also likely be some remixing? We already know how good she sounds over Lil Jon and Timbaland, and she fits in that Ciara remix just fine. I'm not saying she's a sure thing, but being on a major hip-hop label would help.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:19 (twenty-one years ago)

i guess shes indie cause shes got a shitty voice.

Yeah, there's some real golden throats on hip hop radio these days...

I think that if she had Jay-Z or P Diddy pushing her, it would go a long way. It seems like you need a sponsor to be a hip hop outsider and do well - ie, Dr. Dre and Eminem, Timbaland and Bubba Sparxxx.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:23 (twenty-one years ago)

anybody not see something really fucking bananas about the idea of Jay-Z or P. Diddy pushing refugee/terror/war shtick? A song called "10 Dollar"?

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:25 (twenty-one years ago)

the ladies have nice voices!

can we talk more about puffy daddy though? someone on another thread said he likes alter ego's "rocker" - does he lurk on ilm? i think i will pretend he does.

― artdamages (artdamages), Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:26 (twenty-one years ago)

mmmm timbaland producing a ceelo duet...fuck politics. she will be the most political major label act since chumbawamba.

― ENONYMOUS, Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:27 (twenty-one years ago)

It wouldn't be too shocking coming from P Diddy in light of his hit with Punjabi MC.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Sorry, meant to type Jay-Z in that last post, not Diddy.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Blindfolded under homemade lanterns
Somewhere in the Amazon, they're holding me ransom

UH!

http://highergroundonline.com/m_article_images/s_combs.jpg

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:33 (twenty-one years ago)

i've been told on 2 seperate occaisions that, "this sounds like that Spice Girl, what's her name?" while playing M.I.A.

― biznotic, Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Artdamages, Diddy has apparently recorded a techno/dance album and wants to release it sometime soon. When I was at CMJ last year, Tommie Sunshine was talking about it, and he said that he's heard some of it, and he thought it was really good, like really good contemporary intense dance stuff with hip hop vocals.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, he was going to be putting out the Alter Ego album in the US on his label, or something to that effect.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 04:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Is it just my imagination, or do people care about M.I.A.'s success waaay more than any other "indie" (please, let's avoid a debate of what that means) act? I haven't seen this sort of "oh my god, she might get big!!" anywhere else on ILM before.

― Mickey (modestmickey), Sunday, 27 February 2005 06:07 (twenty-one years ago)

I mean, just imagine how ridiculous it would sound about the other indie acts that people here get excited about. "OH MY GOD I heard a rumor that Arcade Fire is talking to Interscope!! I hope they do some songs with Queens of the Stone Age!!"

― Mickey (modestmickey), Sunday, 27 February 2005 06:08 (twenty-one years ago)

That's because we all know Arcade Fire would never be interesting enough to do some songs with Queens of the Stone Age, so there's no point speculating.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Sunday, 27 February 2005 06:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Doy you think M.I.A. really has that strong a chance of having an actual chart hit with her artwork? - so far album cover too damn ugly, and the single covers are too damn anonymous.

Too be fair, the album cover might work on a large scale - far to cluttered as a small jpeg.

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Sunday, 27 February 2005 06:58 (twenty-one years ago)

miccio and Mickey OTM. I think it's nice that an act like M.I.A. with a such a critical buzz that signing with a label like Matador or XL wouldn't take them beyond their built-in audience would consider signing with a major and maybe being more ambitious about their commercial prospects. but this conversation that's been happening in at least hypothetical terms for months (i.e. not just the usual indie lament of "she should be huge" but "she could/will be huge") kind of comes off weird and desperate to me. like people are so overzealous about non-rockist appreciation of something that is (at least theoritically) populist and accessible that they have to cheerlead the mainstreaming of something that (to my ears) doesn't really have serious urban radio potential.

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 07:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Have you heard that Ciara remix? M.I.A. fits in just fine.

That doesn't mean she will, or that if she does she'll have more than a minor hit. But I don't see how the potential isn't there. I don't think there's anything desperate about that observation, it's just an observation. As for cheerleading, I dunno. We all cheerlead for things we like.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Sunday, 27 February 2005 08:15 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, but Mickey already pointed out the difference between usual indie cheerleading and the kind of cheerleading that's going on here.

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 08:18 (twenty-one years ago)

hmmm...I simply heard they were waiting for her to learn some new dance moves.

― cs appleby (cs appleby), Sunday, 27 February 2005 08:40 (twenty-one years ago)

zing!

― artdamages (artdamages), Sunday, 27 February 2005 08:44 (twenty-one years ago)

like people are so overzealous about non-rockist appreciation of something that is (at least theoritically) populist and accessible that they have to cheerlead the mainstreaming of something that (to my ears) doesn't really have serious urban radio potential.

i cant follow this sentence at all, but does rockism really need to be intoned? does it? there was already an a*****e f**e reference. are these things mandatory for threads with 50 or more posts?

i dont mean to be cheerleading. i'm not even sure if i like the album or not. i am just curious how things would go down. if there are major labels trying to woo her then clearly they see her as potentially being marketable (i'd imagine beyond, say spin and college radio). shes obviously an interesting phenomenon for a number of reasons.

i am more interested in this being a gateway to grime breaking in the us (and by breaking i only mean that i'll be able to buy records). i mean pitbull did a version of pow! run the roads out soon. dizzee rascals going to be touring. i realize m.i.a.s music itself only has a tangenital connection to grime, but its an angle for journalists and something she mentions in interviews.

― artdamages (artdamages), Sunday, 27 February 2005 08:54 (twenty-one years ago)

hasn't she already hit magazines like fader, etc?

they just seem to market her like an exotic creature - as an innocent temptation rather than overtly political. puffy and amazon are a funny enough juxtaposition that can't we all see a world cracked out enough to make this happen? how big can mia become, honestly, and what effect do taste-makers have (now that piracy funds terrorism has practically stamped approval from dem folks, thank you village voice)? it seems the mia internet phenomenon (or mia taking charge of the ILM-buzz-o-meter) forces an interesting anticipation in how it splashes down.

although blissblogger connects mia to worldwide culture mashes like baile funk and talks about how arular 'comes from nowhere,' i'd argue that mia appears like the newest concoction of the british invasion and the reaction of it seems to be an undercurrent in everything albeit seriouly warped. warped like 'when mia gets big, she'll finally bring us all this grime to the states'... i don't find her connected to grime in any form, but i can still see the logic - when trickle-down could actually work.

following 'contemporary british invasion' (whatever the fuck that means) will mia be the next oasis? coldplay?

― thesaddestmac, Sunday, 27 February 2005 10:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Since she hasn't even been able to make the smallest of splashes in Britain (where XL are able to break people) I don't see her cracking America even with P Diddy (or whoever.)

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Sunday, 27 February 2005 11:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Anthony, Stereolab and BtS were not *image friendly* (?) as opposed to M.I.A. who's a *hottie*.

― OMGnathalie (stevie nixed), Sunday, 27 February 2005 12:21 (twenty-one years ago)

oh she does have "cute girl" going for her way more than Doug Marstch did, but I dunno if she's gonna be willing to hype that to the degree that would be necessary. Neneh Cherry got big for the song where she disses the gigolo. Does MIA have another song about how there's no nookie for you here? That would seem like her in.

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 14:08 (twenty-one years ago)

also, if you think about it, "I know I told you there was a sample clearance issue, but really I was being wined and dined by chauvinistic multi-millionaires" isn't that charming.

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 14:23 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't help but read the "no way, M.I.A. could never be popular if she had some major label exposure" as "no way, the American public are a bunch of xenophobic retards who only like the most familiar music possible"? I have a bit more faith in the public than that. There are degrees of popularity and fame - I'd be happy enough just to see her be as popular as Cee-Lo or something like that. Fame on the level of Outkast of Eminem is obvs kinda unlikely.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 15:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Would you have thought that Missy Elliott was a sure thing back when she first came out? I think the American public, or at least the hip hop market, is a tiny bit more adventurous than some of you are giving credit.

Is it THAT impossible to imagine that Arular could go gold? For fuck's sake, Bjork goes gold.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 15:33 (twenty-one years ago)

If MIA can't sell enough to make the top 75 in her own country (and what does that amount to nowadays, 200 copies? 300 in a strong week?), why do you think she's going to be able to make anything approaching a splash in the States? She's not Bush/BBMak, you know?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 27 February 2005 15:49 (twenty-one years ago)

while xenophobia is an issue, I personally don't hear what unique qualities MIA has to offer. Sure she fits on urban radio, but what does she add to urban radio aside from a type of political and international flavor that nobody without a blog appears to be apeshit for? The audience for her sonics AND her identity together appears to be limited. Admittedly if I understood why she was creamed over in the first place I might not be so cynical. It's solid stuff but I don't see why America is gonna be like Ooh, I Need This. Unless Puffy shakes a shoulder in a video.

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Unless Puffy shakes a shoulder in a video.

Which helped Missy!

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:03 (twenty-one years ago)

does she add to urban radio aside from a type of political and international flavor that nobody without a blog appears to be apeshit for?

Catchy songs.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Wow did you guys really just jizz all over your self or what!

ditto to miccio

wipe the crust away from over eyes and ears guys.

the music is good but stop creaming

― jj, Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:11 (twenty-one years ago)

In the end, the political stuff is only of interest to the nerdy types. That record is about songs. You people are WAY WAY WAY overplaying the identity thing.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:12 (twenty-one years ago)

If MIA can't sell enough to make the top 75 in her own country

Well, we tried to find her record (diplo & mia) in London but to no avail.

― nathalie barefoot in the head (stevie nixed), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Speaking as a person who was a big supporter of M.I.A. fairly early on (I posted "Galang" in February 03) I never knew or cared about what the lyrics were for a loooooong time, and I think it was the same way for most of the people who were heavy into that song for the longest time. I didn't know much of anything about her backstory til after I'd already heard "Galang," "Fire Fire" and "Sunshowers." Not many people did, and they caught on too.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Anthony, can you seriously not comprehend the difference between a bit of radio play and having a modest niche hit and being HUGE IN AMERICA? Who here is saying that she's going to be Eminem or 50 Cent?

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:16 (twenty-one years ago)

hasn't she already hit magazines like fader, etc?

I mentioned this in one of the other threads, but she's already hit magazines like Rolling Stone and Blender. she's already, on a critical level, overground. I'm sure as soon as release date issues are worked out she'll get one of those "you hear it first!" spots on MTV news.

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Dude, I'm well aware you're not claiming 50 Cent-hood. But the only way she's gonna push through to a "modest niche hit" is via Buzzworthy Novelty, not as Yet Another Player In The Game Of Def Jam or whatever. And a "bit of radio play" has a lot more to do with how much money the label spends then quality or accessibility or anything else.

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:22 (twenty-one years ago)

novelty is her niche, and t.s. to the indie kids learning to dance again who think otherwise

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:24 (twenty-one years ago)

The audience for her sonics AND her identity together appears to be limited.

How do you know that? Have you done some extensive market research that we all don't know about? Most people don't know she exists! I'll say it again and again and again and again but you can't blame people for not liking something that they don't know about!

And a "bit of radio play" has a lot more to do with how much money the label spends then quality or accessibility or anything else.

Exactly. All kinds of inaccessable or odd music can be relatively popular with exposure, and being on a huge major could sneak her in through the backdoor.

I find it odd that you would harp on her otherness one moment, and then claim that she has no novelty factor. How about the fact that her best chance at a crossover hit ("Sunshowers") is vaguely pro-terrorism and alludes to suicide bombings, and the video is in a jungle with real elephants and tigers? That's more than a little novel in the context of what's big in the US right now! In fact, that turns around and becomes an argument against her being mainstream in the US - she's better off pushing the least novel image/lyrics.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:28 (twenty-one years ago)

also, I'm not really questioning urban radio's tolerance for the exotic and different, but it definitely takes it on its own terms. even someone like Sean Paul needed to do collaborations with a dozen big hip hop/R&B stars to break through on the level he did. so while I don't think she'll do a video with Diddy, she'll probably have to network a bit to make that kind of airplay happen. she'll have to make rappers love her like John Mayer and Coldplay.

and I don't really buy the line that all it takes is "catchy songs" to cross over. lots of indie acts have catchy songs. her music might be no less abrasive or different than "Milkshake" but hits like "Milkshake" are carried on the strength of the lyrics and the innuendo therein.

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:28 (twenty-one years ago)

the last thing I ever claimed was that she has no novelty factor.

(x-post)

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Wasn't the announcement of the delay only about a week ahead of the release date? Does this mean physical copies of the XL cd already exist?

― MV, Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

christ I gathered her atypical background etc from blogs long before anybody bothered to explain why I should give a shit

Al very OTM

(x-post yeah there are promos in State College and everywhere)

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, if M.I.A. went gold or platinum on the strength of her appeal to a mostly white indie-ish audience, would that be a bad thing?

I've held the official radio-edit version of Arular issued by XL in my hand, MV. The promos exist.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:31 (twenty-one years ago)

and I think the impenetrabity of her accent/dialect to American ears is gonna be a bigger detriment to pop appeal than the political (or non-sexual) content of her lyrics. (x-post)

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:31 (twenty-one years ago)

there is no way MIA going gold or platinum would be a bad thing. I have a blog, dude! Trickle down!

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:33 (twenty-one years ago)

but there comes a time where we all have to realize that our kid is not going to president someday

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:34 (twenty-one years ago)

to be president

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:34 (twenty-one years ago)

or even a congressperson

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't think her going gold is unrealistic. in fact I think that's probably where she'd be headed if she stayed on XL and relied entirely on critical laurels and MTV2 type exposure to sell her records.

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:37 (twenty-one years ago)

that's how Bjork does it!

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:37 (twenty-one years ago)

I've been lead to believe that the Euro XL release date is now April 25.

― JoB (JoB), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:39 (twenty-one years ago)

the impenetrabity of her accent/dialect to American ears

I wanted to mention that, but you tend to get shit for admitting that kind of thing

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:40 (twenty-one years ago)

hey, there was a time when Bjork went platinum in the U.S. and got rotation on real MTV! that was at a time when "alternative" culture saturated the mainstream beyond just alt-rock, though.

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:42 (twenty-one years ago)

How about the fact that her best chance at a crossover hit ("Sunshowers") is vaguely pro-terrorism and alludes to suicide bombings, and the video is in a jungle with real elephants and tigers? That's more than a little novel in the context of what's big in the US right now!

yeah and i'm sure all those clear channel hip-hop stations will line up to play this ... after it's mashed up with lee greenwood.

― maura (maura), Sunday, 27 February 2005 18:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I think the impenetrabity of her accent/dialect to American ears is gonna be a bigger detriment to pop appeal

I dunno, this didn't stop "Informer" :)

― poortheatre (poortheatre), Sunday, 27 February 2005 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

a licky boom boom down > galang a lang a lang

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 19:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Maybe Universal will clear the entire Piracy Funds Terrorism CD considering most pirated artists are on Universal/Def Jam (Missy is not), and release it?.....

― ENONYMOUS, Sunday, 27 February 2005 19:20 (twenty-one years ago)

novelty is her niche, and t.s. to the indie kids learning to dance again who think otherwise

You'd think after 5+ years of that tired critical catch phrase the damn kids would have figured out how to dance! It's not that hard!

Anyway, it's all about marketing. I have a hard time believing that, regardless of whether M.I.A is on a major or not, she's going to get the corporate attention she'd need to get big. A major label deal does not = effective marketing, more likely she'll just get lost in the cracks.

― stephen morris, Sunday, 27 February 2005 19:27 (twenty-one years ago)

That said, stranger things have happened to commercial radio (Cee-Lo is a great example.) It just doesn't seem like M.I.A. is the sort of artist that's going to get 100% backing from a major label.

― stephen morris, Sunday, 27 February 2005 19:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Well...honestly I think she could sell, some of those songs are really quite good, but its going to require some serious planet alignment going on - diddy in the video, hype williams or little x behind the camera, and MIA's willingness to NOT have some sort of arty conceptual video. I know Missy sort of pulled it off, but she had a home court advantage too.

Guys, Sean Paul's first hit was "Gimme the Light" was it not? he didn't have any help w that, although he was definitely willing to fit into the booty shaking video category.

― djdee (djdee2005), Sunday, 27 February 2005 20:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't care how many Kleenex boxes are emptied by fawning white-boy critics, how many times Rolling Stone jams two articles into a single issue about her, or how many major labels she signs with.
M.I.A. will be lucky to sell 100,000 copies of "Arular" in the United States. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to put down the crack pipe.

― Mr Deeds (Mr Deeds), Sunday, 27 February 2005 20:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Guys, Sean Paul's first hit was "Gimme the Light" was it not? he didn't have any help w that, although he was definitely willing to fit into the booty shaking video category.

-- djdee (ddrak...), February 27th, 2005.

uh, remix w/ Busta, huge industry hype, had guest spots on every other big rap/R&B album coming out at the same time as his.

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 20:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Maybe Universal will clear the entire Piracy Funds Terrorism CD considering most pirated artists are on Universal/Def Jam (Missy is not), and release it?.....

-- ENONYMOUS (rumo...) (webmail), February 27th, 2005.

What does that even mean? Artists on Universal get their albums transferred over KaZaA more often than artists on other labels? I'd seriously like to see some sort of evidence for this statement...

― Mickey (modestmickey), Sunday, 27 February 2005 20:28 (twenty-one years ago)

fair enough i wasn't paying enough attention, the first time i heard anything about him was the gimme the light vid. xp

― djdee (djdee2005), Sunday, 27 February 2005 20:28 (twenty-one years ago)

I said the artists on the mix are mostly major label (Universal) hip hop artists that are mashed/mixed with MIA. Considering they would all be under the same roof, it would be easier and add incentive to legally clear and commercially release the CD as an actual mix, not just a bootleg. I was curious if this had ever happened before, where a street CDR got picked up and legally cleared by a label? Even the 2 Many DJ CD's are not cleared whatsoever. They are only released in Belgium where there is a legal loophole.
I dont know what you mean re evidence?

― ENONYMOUS, Sunday, 27 February 2005 20:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh ok, I totally misunderstood what you were saying. My bad!

― Mickey (modestmickey), Sunday, 27 February 2005 20:42 (twenty-one years ago)

"M.I.A. will be lucky to sell 100,000 copies of "Arular" in the United States. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to put down the crack pipe."

She'd be lucky to move 50,000. Rap kids don't like her (she's a shite rapper).

― Anjelica C, Sunday, 27 February 2005 22:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Is Sean Paul a "shite rapper"? If she succeeds, it's not going to be based on rapping ability or whatever. The people saying that this will never happen in a million years are as deluded as the people saying it's a sure thing (and nobody's saying that).

― C0L1N B... (C0L1N B...), Sunday, 27 February 2005 23:05 (twenty-one years ago)

I 100% think that if this were on that almost any song on Arular that got radio play would turn enough heads to get a neptunes richard x collabo or remix partnership thing going on. Cam'ron is already interested in her. She will drop guest verses on mainstream hits this year, of this I am totally convinced. As for Piracy Funds Terrorism, if any of those artists can champion this while the beats from the hits still sound fresh, I could easily see some kind of Gray Album type success for this... It's pretty obvious Jay was into that record, and that that facilitated some modicum of success (granted, no, not commercial) for it. Impenetrabilities of tongue will be no obstacle for her... Does anyboyd understand what the fuck Sean Paul is saying? Or even Lil Jon for that matter?
Grime is way too harsh at this point to break in the US, but MIA is not grime and she's not that dissimilar from what's on the radio now anyway.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Sunday, 27 February 2005 23:22 (twenty-one years ago)

err, that first sentence makes little sense, so... oh well...

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Sunday, 27 February 2005 23:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I 100% think that if this were on that almost any song on Arular that got radio play would turn enough heads to get a neptunes richard x collabo or remix partnership thing going on.

That sure worked for Mania!

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 27 February 2005 23:25 (twenty-one years ago)

well, i'm sure i'm proving your point but i have no idea what the fuck you're talking about.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Sunday, 27 February 2005 23:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Or even Lil Jon for that matter?

what, yeah, okay, luda, culo, shake that shit, hey

― 24568i, Sunday, 27 February 2005 23:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Physical copies on XL do exist; I work for a fairly large chain book/music store, and when I first heard that the album got pulled, I went through our system and looked at our main music distributor (Baker & Taylor), who listed a number of copies as being in stock. I ordered it under my own name, it came in, and I bought it last week!

Same tracklisting, same hideous artwork, cardboard sleeve overcoat. I'm surprised more copies haven't surfaced, it was too quick to pull it, since it was obvious in the hands of the distributors before they were given word to pull copies.

― pher (pher), Monday, 28 February 2005 00:36 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah i have two copies! and i think it could be big.
LCD soundsystem is what people go nuts for on this board and that def tanked. so conversely if theres doubt on here about 'arular's chances then it probably bodes well for her.

― noizem duke (noize duke), Monday, 28 February 2005 02:48 (twenty-one years ago)

haha i dont think anyone expected LCD Soundsystem to barnstorm the charts.

― djdee (djdee2005), Monday, 28 February 2005 02:55 (twenty-one years ago)

djdee, that's exactly the point I was trying to make. Things like LCD Soundsystem ILM goes crazy for, loves, and showers with praise, but really couldn't care less about how popular it gets. Yet, for some reason, so many people are giving me the impression that every night they go to sleep praying that M.I.A. is going to show up on TRL or something. I don't get it. Why is it that with M.I.A. people care about what the rest of the world exists, but for everything else, all that matters is our little music fanatic community?

― Mickey (modestmickey), Monday, 28 February 2005 03:05 (twenty-one years ago)

one exemplifies a global-political youth culture the other represents hipster in-jokes

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 28 February 2005 03:15 (twenty-one years ago)

MIA's not THAT funny.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 28 February 2005 03:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Tamil Tigers Blowing Up My House

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 28 February 2005 03:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Even the 2 Many DJ CD's are not cleared whatsoever. They are only released in Belgium where there is a legal loophole.

uh Volume 2 was totally cleared and legally released. anything else is a bootleg that presumably "pretends" to have been released in Belgium

― kit brash (kit brash), Monday, 28 February 2005 10:53 (twenty-one years ago)

what's more pathetic: the sales for Arular or all the dorks on ILM hoping they can get some mid-20s job (or even that?!) for being known as the blogger who "broke M.I.A."?

Give it a rest, the indie guilt thread was years ago, fags.

ps. I like the new, cynical miccio. I will be the first to say salud! at least the crappy bands he likes sell records.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 28 February 2005 11:02 (twenty-one years ago)

1) I can offer firsthand confirmation that other labels are trying to release Arular. Such as the one I work for. Not that we will. Because we suck and are lame.

2) No one has any idea what's going to go big. Lumidee's on commercial radio, so MIA is well within the realm of possibility, no matter what she sells in the UK--lately the UK acts that have done the best in the US didn't do so well at home. The American and British mass publicks have very different tastes. Ultimately, it will be nice if she goes big but not necessary.

3) That said, have you heard how goddamn weird some of the big hip-hop hits are these days? C'mon now. It's a lot easier to call which rock bands will break these days than hip-hop/R&B.

4) Piracy Funds Terrorism will never be commercially released as-is for the very simple reason that there's a Prince sample on it, and Prince, he does not license things. The other stuff, maybe, but it's fine enough "underground."

― Eppy (Eppy), Monday, 28 February 2005 17:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Will someone please go back through this thread and any other relevant threads and show me the fawning critics emptying kleenex boxes over M.I.A. or going to bed dreaming of her success? It seems to me that on the one hand you have some people saying, hey, if she got some major-label backing and hooked up with some U.S. hip-hop acts and producers, maybe she could get over -- which is just the kind of speculative thinking that people interested in pop music indulge in. On the other hand, you have a bunch of bizarro comments about people creaming themselves and being "desperate". I don't get it. But maybe I've just missed all those desperate creaming posts. Point them out to me so I can laugh too.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Monday, 28 February 2005 18:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, this thread is starting to feel a bit Velvet Ropey. And that's not good.

― Eppy (Eppy), Monday, 28 February 2005 18:07 (twenty-one years ago)

I wouldn't trust any of you guys to be able to predict a hit if your lives depended on it (even marketing people who have access to a lot more data than any of us do can't really predict hits.)

Anyway, M.I.A. single breaking through on urban radio/BET/etc seems unlikely, BUT stranger things have happened (FTR I would lay better odds that "POW (Forward)" becomes a minor hit though, esp. if the video gets some play) so depending on what kind of push she gets I suppose anything is possible. Sean Paul is a poor comparison as "Deport Them" was a huge HOT 97 hit even before the Busta and Clipse remixes raised his profile even higher. And dancehall was primed to bleed into urban radio again anyway (proof is that SP wasn't alone in raising his US profile--Wayne Wonder, Beenie Man, Elephant Man, TOK all achieved some success in that same period.)

For M.I.A. I think Dizzee levels of sales are pretty likely though. The album going gold to a Dizzee type audience seems VERY unlikely though. She's not a Bjork and the audience which made Bjork has changed anyway.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 28 February 2005 18:10 (twenty-one years ago)

"I wonder if the alignment between african american taste and popular taste when it comes to african american music has ever been more in sync."

meaning the black masses have never liked the same music as the white masses as they do now?

yeah youre probably right.

― beckish, Monday, 28 February 2005 18:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I have a very, very hard time imagining any of the tracks on Arular on U.S. radio.

On the other hand, imagining M.I.A. going over well on guest verses or over a Neps-produced single, absolutely.

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 28 February 2005 18:16 (twenty-one years ago)

i was at a jr-high/high school dance/show in suburban new jersey this weekend at they were jamming MIA.

― The Argunaut (sexyDancer), Monday, 28 February 2005 18:16 (twenty-one years ago)

really? weird. i think the beats on the album arent abrasive enough for hip hop and urban radio, theyre not spare sounding enough either. but i think MIA, if she gets one hot banger type production on her album, she could get the urban audience on board.

― analaut, Monday, 28 February 2005 18:18 (twenty-one years ago)

teen girls like it

― The Argunaut (sexyDancer), Monday, 28 February 2005 18:20 (twenty-one years ago)

"Prince, he does not license things. The other stuff, maybe, but it's fine enough "underground."

hes granted clearance to de la soul, mc hammer and a few others though.

― analaut, Monday, 28 February 2005 18:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I think M.I.A. is more likely to get KROQ type spins a la the Postal Service than urban radio spins.

― Al (sitcom), Monday, 28 February 2005 18:23 (twenty-one years ago)

her accent isnt too british though, its a mix. she could get over as some sort of carribean type of artist. if reggaeton is getting big, i can easily imagine her fitting alongside those type of records.

― ppp, Monday, 28 February 2005 18:24 (twenty-one years ago)

the school dance i described was straight-up middle class, but racially integrated; lots of bi-racial kids. This is also the kind of background MIA seems to hail from.

― The Argunaut (sexyDancer), Monday, 28 February 2005 18:30 (twenty-one years ago)

I was reaching for an easy explanation on the PFT thing, and you called me on it, so damn. Lemme put it this way then: given the likely licensing costs (especially given that the album's already been released illegally), as well as the likely artist contract, they would end up owing their label money for every copy they would sell, so it would only be put out for purposes of fan curiosity, and such can already be satisfied via merch purch or P2P activity.

― Eppy (Eppy), Monday, 28 February 2005 19:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Jordan OTM.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 28 February 2005 19:25 (twenty-one years ago)

this album is boring, you people are mental. hype-machine rolls on regardless...

― eman (eman), Monday, 28 February 2005 19:46 (twenty-one years ago)

i think its a great album but from all the talk i go back and listen to it and just think 'whats everyone getting so worked up about? Its just a cool quirky pop album.'

― djdee (djdee2005), Monday, 28 February 2005 19:48 (twenty-one years ago)

'Its just a cool quirky ~~pop~~ album.'

― Al (sitcom), Monday, 28 February 2005 19:53 (twenty-one years ago)

haha fair enough but i obv mean "pop" like kompakt has "pop" songs, shit probably isnt gonna blow over here.

― djdee (djdee2005), Monday, 28 February 2005 20:00 (twenty-one years ago)

"And now at number one, Michael Mayer w/Just Blaze..."

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 28 February 2005 20:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Give it a rest, the indie guilt thread was years ago, f*gs.

Just to be clear, on ILX is it now acceptable to use this term as a derogative?

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 28 February 2005 20:38 (twenty-one years ago)

no.

― cozen (Cozen), Monday, 28 February 2005 20:45 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, dee, I just think that "pop" distinction needs to be made more clear here. I'm wary of the indie shorthand in which anything with a catchy chorus is suddenly worthy of top 40 airplay in a more just world.

― Al (sitcom), Monday, 28 February 2005 20:47 (twenty-one years ago)

xpost
I didn't think so.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 28 February 2005 20:50 (twenty-one years ago)

"boring" might be too harsh. "underwhelming" is more accurate, but then i find a lot of the things that get multiple, huge threads on ilm underwhelming so don't mind me. *cough*lcd soundsystem*cough* *ack* killing joke *sputter* lozenge, please!

p.s. "fasteriskgs"?

― eman (eman), Monday, 28 February 2005 20:51 (twenty-one years ago)

sorry spencer, i had just gotten back from a night at the bar with one of our gay regulars who says "fags" and "queers" and "sloppy bottoms" every other word. it seeps into my vocabulary just from hanging out with this guy. i really meant to use the word "dorks."

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 28 February 2005 20:53 (twenty-one years ago)

why do you have a such a hard on about this? gypsy mothra was otm upthead. people are just speculating for shits, i tryed to make a loon joke and then thread immediately devolves into calling out indie nutjobs. seems to happen anytime perpetua posts (granted sometimes its understandable).

― artdamages (artdamages), Monday, 28 February 2005 21:07 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah maybe. I think some people are taking it more seriously and some poeple are 'just speculating for shits', though, not everyone's on the same wavelength about it.

― Al (sitcom), Monday, 28 February 2005 21:12 (twenty-one years ago)

also the stupid Puffy jokes are by far the worst thing about this thread.

― Al (sitcom), Monday, 28 February 2005 21:13 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, thats just double up. he a joke by nature already

― Rizz (Rizz), Monday, 28 February 2005 21:18 (twenty-one years ago)

someone please post the jetski picture

― artdamages (artdamages), Monday, 28 February 2005 21:29 (twenty-one years ago)

http://thewvsr.com/images/jetski.jpg

― JoB (JoB), Monday, 28 February 2005 21:40 (twenty-one years ago)

multi xpost:
Stence, I was thinking that it wasn't your usual terminology!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 28 February 2005 22:12 (twenty-one years ago)

delayed indefinitely due to major label bidding war (Jimmy just cut the motherfucking check).
Re-Make, Remodel. Get them star trak ryderz.
change'em lyrics or MTV2 won't find you
Don't know Arular from fatwa. Diddy say you'll go far.
Keep dropping rhymes, tell Philly to step aside
Get alot farther with a purple rag on yr backside
New cover, new shoes, homemade outfit with the reggaeton blues
the darker the tan, more exotic.
the higher the hemline mo erotic
25 white boys can't be wrong
how will we reconcile 15 minutes of fame with 30 minutes worth of songs?
Brand New, I'm Retro
Better strike while it's hot over drop it like it's hot
shit'll play in dorm rooms but will it sell in Watts?
It's bigger than hip hop,dancehall,brazilian booty balls
revolutionary but underground.
squeeze my papaya(s) till the juice run down my legs.
just ask Dylan Mills if he's pulling down Sean Carter figs.
where you at girl the whole undeground's behind you?

I had a dream of bald white prophet with a gibson sg, "never mind what they're selling, it's what you're buying". Sign me up I've got money to burn. Still got that deed for Rio Rancho estates. Best oceanfront property in Arizona and I ain't selling no time soon. There's a bridge in the city of apples and if my credit was good I'd buy that bitch too. We need a resolution. it'll all be over soon. Just do what you do. like what you like because in every silver lining is a touch of ben franklin green.

A.U.S.B. (Already a Underground Sensation Blogwide)

― from the horse's mouth, Tuesday, 1 March 2005 03:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Alex in SF was OTM when he said "I wouldn't trust any of you guys to be able to predict a hit if your lives depended on it". Still, I can't see how Missy Elliot minus the vocal hooks could possibly be a hit in the US. The Snow comparisons make sense but still "In-for-ma" was a much more catchy hook than anything I've heard from M.I.A.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 03:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Rio Rancho is in New Mexico, other than that OTM.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 03:58 (twenty-one years ago)

rio rancho is in new mexico but otherwise otm.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 04:01 (twenty-one years ago)

How does MIA sound anything like missy, other than that they both sound "weird"? I mean, Missy's whole style has more of a cultural precedent here than MIAs.

― djdee (djdee2005), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 04:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Their voices aren't the same but their flow is really similar. Listen to any Missy track and then listen to Pull Up The People.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 17:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not questioning that she's influenced by missy, i'm questioning that anyone would be like "you like missy, you'll LOVE MIA!"

― djdee (djdee2005), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 18:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Try reading a little harder. That's not what he said.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 18:53 (twenty-one years ago)

uh alex maybe you should read a little harder

I was responding to this.

― djdee (djdee2005), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 18:55 (twenty-one years ago)

like, i actually agree w/ what walter said.

― djdee (djdee2005), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 18:55 (twenty-one years ago)

That's NOT what that guy said either!

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 18:56 (twenty-one years ago)

fair enough, but my point is that missy's weirdness had precedents and more going for it than MIA does as far as "making it" in the United States......

― djdee (djdee2005), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 18:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Wow, now I'm really confused. I guess we all agree?

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 19:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Who knows?

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 21:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Annnd ... curtain.

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 21:15 (twenty-one years ago)

REVIVE!

I just want to throw out this recent personal anecdote - judging from the reception "Arular" got at this black lesbian dinner/party thing I was at last Saturday night, this album's got definite crossover appeal. My friend's 13-y.o. daughter was totally diggin it.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 1 March 2005 22:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm going to predict that MIA's American success will be closer to Craig David than Dizzee Rascal.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 22:55 (twenty-one years ago)

So Shakey Mo, as long as the album locks up the black lesbian market, it'll be huge?

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 23:11 (twenty-one years ago)

EXACTLY!

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 1 March 2005 23:12 (twenty-one years ago)

But it will only be available on the lesbian black market.

― Bent Over at the Arclight (Bent Over at the Arclight), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 23:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Well played.

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 1 March 2005 23:32 (twenty-one years ago)

four weeks pass...

I don't think I've seen it mentioned on ILM yet, so I guess I'm going to be the asshole that points out that she just barely made the Billboard 200 at #199 and gloat about it.

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:40 (twenty years ago)

so, i'm sure this has been covered on at least 1 of the 789,943,333,484,091 M.I.A. threads... but why does my copy of Arular say XL on it? (vinyl)

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:43 (twenty years ago)

Proof the ol' New Yorker, Times, Voice marketing push can only go so far (although to be fair the delays have probably dimished their sway.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:45 (twenty years ago)

Because it's out on XL (maybe distributed and promoted by Interscope.) Future albums will, I believe, be on Interscope in US.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:46 (twenty years ago)

I'm going to predict that MIA's American success will be closer to Craig David than Dizzee Rascal.

I wish I'd heard the album when I first read this comment because I could have then said, "SPENCER BABY, YOU BE ON THE CRACK!" in my colorful granny voice.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:47 (twenty years ago)

hmmm... isn't that actually a pretty good debut position for someone like her? surely the highest ever for an artist on XL, no? (thanks for clearing that up, Alex)

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:48 (twenty years ago)

yes, one week is always enough time to figure how this stuff will work.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:49 (twenty years ago)

Dan are you the crazy drag granny in that "diary of a mad black woman" movie? (xp)

haha I was just about to say "and here comes the people predicting a sleeper hit, cracking the top ten by the 4th quarter", and in comes in Matos

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:49 (twenty years ago)

although if it's true that it's not this album but future albums that will be on Interscope, then I can see the 2nd album really capitalizing on the buzz and selling well.

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:52 (twenty years ago)

(xpost) OOOH HONEY, YOU KNOW I IS!

― The Ghost of CRAZY DRAG GRANNY (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:53 (twenty years ago)

Esp. if they get it together and release it quickly (and it has a great Neptunes/Timbaland single on it which it probably will haha.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:53 (twenty years ago)

The hot underground sensation of the year whose debut album Arular was a hit with critics and fans the world over finally releases her long-awaited major label debut! Featuring collaborations with:

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:54 (twenty years ago)

She could completely reinvigorate the neptunes & timbo.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:55 (twenty years ago)

Featuring collaborations with:

Ludacris
The Neptunes
Snoop Dogg
Eve
Jay-Z
The X-Cutioners
CRAZY DRAG GRANNY
Nitzer Ebb
Li'l Jon
Twista
Missy Elliott
(etc)

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:56 (twenty years ago)

There ain't nothing with either that needs reinvigorating.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:57 (twenty years ago)

I do think that it's probably not them that needs reinvigorating, but the artists they're working with. Though the Nep's stuff for Snoop, i.e. Drop it Like it's Hot and Let's Get Blown, is some of their best work.

I can't honestly see her working with a lotta the artists who disrespect women much though.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:59 (twenty years ago)

yes Al, saying it's too early to tell how a record might possibly do right after it comes out and calling it a blockbuster are THE SAME THING

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:00 (twenty years ago)

I hate ILM's fantasy footbal league collaboration lists, especially ones that involve Timbaland and the Neptunes.

(x-post, yeah, Matos, I know you weren't saying that but it felt like yours was the first post in an inevitable train of thought I was dreading)

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:01 (twenty years ago)

although when they involve Crazy Drag Granny I am happy.

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:03 (twenty years ago)

the weird thing is that NO ONE I can remember on any of the M.I.A. threads said anything about it becoming a big commercial success (unless the whole "'Galang' could conceivably be played on Radio Disney" thing counts, which it doesn't)

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:05 (twenty years ago)

I am curious exactly what Interscope thinks they are getting or going to do with M.I.A. The Neptunes/Timbaland thing isn't a dream collab. It seems more like an obvious attempt to generate a hit by a record company for an "exotic" artist (see: Sean Paul, Beenie Man.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:07 (twenty years ago)

um, scroll up some. there's a reason I revived this particular thread. granted, not everybody was saying she'd go platinum out the box, but there was a lot of optimistic sales/exposure predictions. (x-post)

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:09 (twenty years ago)

Alex, I don't think major labels necessarily have a game plan when they sign a new artist that has a lot of underground or industry buzz. I think they just see that there's something to capitalize on, and they'll worry about how once they get the name on the dotted line.

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:11 (twenty years ago)

Yes, I understand that. Which is why I am curious what they are going to DO with her!

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:13 (twenty years ago)

this is not to say I have read all the threads very carefully, obv. (xpost dbl obv.)

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:13 (twenty years ago)

I don't know... I played the record out last night and 3 dj's separately approached saying that they play the record. 2 other people asked what it is. they looked like normals, not hipsters.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:14 (twenty years ago)

haha normals

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:15 (twenty years ago)

C.H.U.D.S.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:16 (twenty years ago)

I played "Pull Up the People" at a small party the other day, and lots of people were interested to know what it was. (Okay, lots = like three, but it was a small party!)

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:16 (twenty years ago)

Were they "normals"?

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:17 (twenty years ago)

*joke deleted because I suddenly became very ashamed of myslef*

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:20 (twenty years ago)

and then the crazy drag granny dance of shame begins.

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:21 (twenty years ago)

That will probably be her next video.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:22 (twenty years ago)

from nerve.com :

The British press — NME and the daily tabloids — are famous for hyperbole and scandal. Have you had any trouble with them yet?
I haven't had any, thank god. I do my best to stay out of there, it's a little too hardcore. But the only people that make it into tabloids are the ones that seek it, I think. Ultimately, I think it is like that, but you can me smart and be a musician and avoid all that. As for NME, they only really cover bands, right?

Well, they cover the Streets and Dizzee Rascal.
Yeah, but they're boys. As a chick who does music, I think I confuse them too much. They definitely wrote about me when the "Galang" single came out, but since then I don't think NME knows how to write about me. They're putting really big commercial things on the cover, but most of the time they exist just to write about the Libertines.

Which, by the way, is baffling over here.
I confuse them, because I go "reggae tones, blah blah blah, Baltimore club, da da da da da," and then "dancehall blah blah blah blah" and then they're like, "what?" And that's cool, because I'll go over here with the people that do get it. And they'll eventually figure out that music is music and that we have to push things forward, which is what the Streets say: "let's push things forward." They just don't practice that philosophy.

What's the situation with female MCs in Britain? Lady Sovereign is getting a lot of press.
I like Lady Sovereign. She's really cheeky and quite inventive with it. But it's really difficult to say. At the time I got signed, there seemed to be a bunch of girls signed. And magazines would call me up and say "can we do a group photo of like, grime girls," and I just thought, I'm not really part of it, so I can't really rep it. I support grime, I think it's doing a great job, and if it could get out of London, it would be amazing. I want to open up the world, like an information highway thing. Like, that's why I exist. I want to bust the doors on where I come from, all my influences come from everywhere

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:26 (twenty years ago)

Upthread, I mean of course that Craig David had a sort of abortive pop success (grammy nom, videos on MTV etc), but unfortunately no breakout (and his followup was very disappointing). I now believe that MIA will be much more popular than Craig David, but I'm not thinking Top 10.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:32 (twenty years ago)

How does getting airplay on Radio Disney not equal commercial success?! She would probably make more money from regular airplay on Radio Disney (and then the inevitable movie & TV placements) than she would from record sales anyway.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:37 (twenty years ago)

"reggae tones"? did she really say "reggaeton" and they mistranscribe it?

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:40 (twenty years ago)

How does getting airplay on Radio Disney not equal commercial success?!

because I was specifically talking about chart position for the album

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:41 (twenty years ago)

Haha that's so sad.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:41 (twenty years ago)

i like nerve a lot but their reviews with musicians usually leave something to be desired (no pun intended). well, that said, i guess reggae tones is a lucky hit, we could have wound up reading it as ring tones.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:43 (twenty years ago)

interviews, rather.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:47 (twenty years ago)

I don't think I've seen it mentioned on ILM yet, so I guess I'm going to be the asshole that points out that she just barely made the Billboard 200 at #199 and gloat about it.

Isn't this the same chart position Zeppelin IV had after it's first week? "Sunshowers" could be the next "Stairway to Heaven"!

― Vic Funk, Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:53 (twenty years ago)

that doesn't sound right at all, can you verify that? I mean, Zep was pretty big in the U.S. from II onward, wouldn't a low debut like that be really unlikely?

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:57 (twenty years ago)

maybe it [IV] was only released a couple hours before the end of the chart period?

― chris andrews (fraew), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 22:14 (twenty years ago)

LED ZEPPELIN/FOUR SYMBOLS (untitled)
(1971-1972)
Released November 8, 1971: Album is released untitled, yet still hits UK #1 and U.S. #2 slots. Becomes known as Led Zeppelin IV, Four Symbols, or Zoso, after the runic images on inner sleeve.

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 22:58 (twenty years ago)

Last night, I was walked past two major record stores in Boston. As I crossed in front of the Virgin Megastore, they were playing "Hombre". When I went into Newbury Comics, they were playing Bjork's singles on one half of the store and some anonymous-sounding boring guitar band on the other side. At that moment, I desperately wished that Virgin sold comic books because it was blatantly obvious that Newbury Comics had jumped the shark and had put itself in a little musical cul-de-sac that refused to acknowledge music after 1997 and I didn't really want to be in that place anymore; I wanted to run through 2005 with M.I.A. on one arm and Stush on the other. However, it was too late for me; I wandered to the counter with my X-Men book and a copy of Actually and wistfully thought back on the days when I wasn't old.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 31 March 2005 13:31 (twenty years ago)

(GRRRRRRR Remove "was" from the first sentence FUCK THIS ENCROACHING DEMENTIA WITH A STICK)

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 31 March 2005 13:32 (twenty years ago)

Newbury Comics jumping the shark? In this age, that seems quaint.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Thursday, 31 March 2005 21:22 (twenty years ago)

I actually expanded on that post on NYPLM:

http://www.freakytrigger.co.uk/nylpm/2005_03_01_nylpm_archive.html#111230641046600202

There is a huge element of nostalgia inherent in the way I view Newbury Comics that likely doesn't match up to what it really is, or rather what it is no longer plays the same role in my life as it did when I was 19.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 31 March 2005 21:27 (twenty years ago)

i am nostalgic for newbury comics too!! i bought a watchmen t-shirt there when i was 12 and i always used to go when i came back to boston!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 31 March 2005 21:38 (twenty years ago)

nine months pass...

WELL?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 27 January 2006 05:02 (twenty years ago)

Who was she again?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 27 January 2006 05:08 (twenty years ago)

http://www.fiftiesweb.com/tv/mia-farrow-1.jpg

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 27 January 2006 05:10 (twenty years ago)

Classical features.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 27 January 2006 05:11 (twenty years ago)

http://www.2otter.com/Cameron/images/POW%20MIA.jpg

― team jaxon (jaxon), Friday, 27 January 2006 05:11 (twenty years ago)

It's a Civic.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 27 January 2006 05:20 (twenty years ago)

oh you just wait for the pazz/jop sales bounce.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Friday, 27 January 2006 08:43 (twenty years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.