M.I.A. is not from the streets. Or, at least, not from the streets you'd expect for any artist so influenced by old school hip-hop. Born in London, raised in Sri Lanka and India before returning to the UK, M.I.A.'s music reflects that broad spectrum of influences. Her new single "Boyz" is a wild soundclash of styles and cultures — reggae, hip-hop, techno, tribal beats, etc, etc — and the video is just as colorful and frenetic. M.I.A. fronts a boisterously rough dance troupe while jagged illustrations zig-zag across the screen and the faux letterbox borders. The color scheme hews closely to the Jamaica flag — which makes sense, since the video was shot on-location there — and I have to give a tip of the cap to my SubterraneanBlog.com friends for pointing out the video's obvious precursor in Neneh Cherry s"Buffalo Stance" video. --> watch "Boyz"
M.I.A. "Boyz" (Interscope)
M.I.A. & Jay Will, director | Carleene Samuels, producer | Creative Source (Jamaica), production co | Brendon Sherman, editor | Ben Jones/Weirdcore, editor
