Photo by Jaime Martinez
M.I.A.'s attack on The New York Times and journalist Lynn Hirschberg continues. After the paper published a not-altogether-flattering M.I.A. feature story written by Hirschberg, Maya hit back by posting Hirschberg's personal cell phone number on her Twitter on Thursday. Later that day, M.I.A. Tweeted, "NEWS IS AN OPINION! UNEDITED VERSION OF THE INTERVIEW WILL BE ON neetrecordings THIS MEMORIAL WEEKEND!!! >>>>"
As promised, M.I.A. has posted clips of that interview on the blog of her record label N.E.E.T., under the heading "War Crimes and French Fries". She also posted a new song.
On the internet, one of the most hotly discussed aspects of the piece was what M.I.A. ate during one of the interviews, which took place at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. Hirschberg wrote, "Unity holds no allure for Maya — she thrives on conflict, real or imagined. 'I kind of want to be an outsider,' she said, eating a truffle-flavored French fry. 'I don't want to make the same music, sing about the same stuff, talk about the same things. If that makes me a terrorist, then I'm a terrorist.'" This could be interpreted as Hirschberg trying to frame M.I.A. as a hypocrite, talking about wanting to be an outsider while munching on exotic delicacies at a posh restaurant.
In the first sound bite that M.I.A. posted on the N.E.E.T blog, it is revealed that it was Hirschberg herself who ordered the fries. And she told Maya that The New York Times would pay for them.
The second sound bite concerns this piece of the article:
"In January 2009, while the civil war in Sri Lanka was raging, Maya repeatedly referred to the situation as a 'genocide.' 'I wasn’t trying to be like Bono,' Maya told me. 'He's not from Africa — I'm from there. I'm tired of pop stars who say, 'Give peace a chance.' I'd rather say, 'Give war a chance.' The whole point of going to the Grammys was to say, 'Hey, 50,000 people are gonna die next month, and here's your opportunity to help.' And no one did.'"
In the recording that M.I.A. posted, this is what she actually says:
"It wasn't just about me, and me getting to the Oscars, or me going to the Grammys. That doesn't mean anything. The whole point of the journey was so you can go, 'Hey, 50,000 people are going to die next month. Here's your opportunity to to help.' And no one did, and they still died. It wasn't about accolades or fame."
On the N.E.E.T. blog, M.I.A. also posted links to several New York Times articles covering the war in Sri Lanka, as well as a link to Amnesty International.
In addition, M.I.A. also posted a new song, which is tagged as being called "Haters", and interpolates the Various Production track "Hater". It begins "So you wanna hear about my politics / Yeah, I could show you things that could make you sick" and goes on address America, the army, racists, and, of course, journalists.
Amy Phillips @'Pitchfork'
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