M.I.A. issued an incredible response to the silly $1.5M lawsuit the NFL has slapped her with for flipping the bird on national TV more than 18 months ago.
Full transcript here:
The NFL thing is completely ridiculous. It’s been making me laugh for a while, but now it’s so boring I don’t even laugh anymore. So the precise moment in question, and you can actually freeze-frame this as many media outlets have. The frame you’re looking for has my middle finger in the foreground, and the larger picture where it zooms out is a row of 10-15 cheerleaders, young black females, that Madonna got from a local high school in Indianapolis, and they were all under 16. If you look at them, they’re all wearing cheerleader outfits, hips thrusted in the air, legs wide open, in this very sexually provocative position.
So, now, they’re scapegoating me into figuring out the goalposts on what is offensive in America. Like, is my finger offensive, or is the underage black girl with her legs wide open more offensive to the family audience? That’s basically what it comes down to. It’s a massive waste of time, a massive waste of money, it’s a massive display of powerful corporation dick-shaking. They want me on my knees and say sorry so they can slap me on my wrist. Basically, so they can say it’s OK for me to promote being sexually exploited as a female than to display female empowerment through being punk rock. That is what it boils down to, and I’m being sued for it.
To her credit, M.I.A. has always been one of the more opportunistic pop stars around, so she understandably decided to use the current news cycle around her to unveil the tracklist and artwork for her upcoming album Matangi. Said album includes previous singles “Bad Girls” and “Bring the Noize,” in addition to her current single “Come Walk With Me.” Full tracklisting and cover art follows below:
1. Karmageddon
2. MATANGI
3. Only 1 U
4. Warriors
5. Come Walk With Me
6. aTENTion
7. Exodus
8. Bad Girls
9. Boom Skit
10. Double Bubble Trouble
11. Y.a.l.a
12. Bring The Noize
13. Lights
14. Know It Ain’t Right
15. Sexodus
We might’ve been a bit harsh on her in the past, but the “it’s a massive display of powerful corporation dick-shaking” line about the NFL’s overreaction to her performance? One the reasons why we’ll always be on her side.
Rohin Guha is a contributing editor at The Aerogram. Follow him on Twitter @ohrohin. Find The Aerogram on Twitter @theaerogram.
