February 4, 2005 | Posted by mark at 1:31 PM

What everyone's looking at

It would seem that once in a generation we get a musical figure that co-opts the best elements of the underground, injects them with a healthy dose of sexy, and turns popular music into something you've never heard before. Watching M.I.A. last night at the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles was like seeing Madonna on American Bandstand. It was just bananas. You take one the hottest djs in America and pair him with a pint-sized ball of Sri Lankan sex appeal spitting fire and you've got yourself one hell of a show.

I fully expected to be disappointed. Seriously. But I wasn't let down. Not one bit. It lived up to the hype. There was a visual loop from her "Galang" video running in the background, one backup singer and Diplo on the tables. She played pretty much every track off the new album, but $10 was clearly the standout, and when Diplo mixed in some Eurythmics beats underneath the place went crazy. Such a great show. The soundsystem was fantastic and the beats sounded so good live.

So if you're anywhere near NYC tomorrow night and you've got some way of getting a ticket (murder, maybe?) you should definitely do it. I mean, this was only her fifth performance ever, and only the second in America, and girl knew how to work the crowd.

Go see her, cop the album when it comes out, and believe it. She's for real.

Comments

Murder it might take, yo, but on the strength home girl sounds a lot like Missy, just looks a lot better unless you like the oversize mampy thing. I'm missing something? And Missy is funnier.

Posted by: Jim at February 4, 2005 4:05 PM

fucking awesome, no?
i was totally impressed with the energy in the KF.

Posted by: mark at February 4, 2005 7:38 PM

Was there last night too. Really, really impressed.

Also amazing to be surrounded by a crowd of pure hipsters, since the only way one could have heard M.I.A.'s music was illegally (basically) or through imports.

So you take hipsters and you take some really good music and you've got guys who look like Erlend Oye shaking their booty. Awesome!

Posted by: John at February 4, 2005 8:24 PM

I had the same thought -- lots of people were there because they were told to check it out. I mean, there were lots of writers/promotions/industry folk in the crowd, and lots of them have had the album for awhile. So it wasn't total neophytes. But it was tons and tons of hipsters.

Posted by: robot mark at February 4, 2005 8:56 PM

I do wonder, however, if M.I.A. is going to be as big as everyone is predicting. I mean, I WANT her to be. But when I play her for other people, they don't react as well as I'd hoped. It's tough to digest -- it's not easy fare.

That said, she is gorgeous and has amazing stage presence. It'll be very interesting to see what happens.

Posted by: John at February 4, 2005 9:43 PM

"since the only way one could have heard M.I.A.'s music was illegally (basically) or through imports"

umm, I bought MIA's Galang and Sunshowers 12"s early this fall for domestic prices on XL (division of Matador/Beggars in the States).

but yeah, she's great! i love her long time! 10$!

Posted by: --s-tephen at February 5, 2005 3:30 AM

she's the bomb! there's depth, talent and gorgeousness to boot. i like hearing the local accent in her rapping and plus the fact she's a fellow south-east-asian girlie makes me happy. she rocks it, me love her long time too!

Posted by: bluherb at February 5, 2005 4:42 AM

she's destiny's child for the more discerning crowd. The Diplo mix I think is a great introduction to MIA since it has a lot of 80/90s parts included that makes the music super fun to listen and dance to. I reeeaaally would love to see her and Diplo live!

Posted by: jose luis at February 5, 2005 2:30 PM

she's a " destiny's child for the more discerning generation"? is that a good comparison? i dunno...

Posted by: redsage at February 7, 2005 7:42 AM

(oops meant to quote "..crowd," not "..generation". soz)

Posted by: redsage at February 7, 2005 7:44 AM
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