BREAKDOWN: M.I.A._/\/\/\Y/\

Here We Go Kids...

ALBUM ART: as much as some people have disagreed with me... i think this cover is PHENOM. true MIA fashion.
The Message: as usual, she whips out a SICK ASS intro. this time, with the help of her brother as co-composer.. buuuut she made the mistake of NOT making this a FULL song. it pissed me off ROYALLY!, but what can you do? :::KanYe Shrug:::
F.V.-PASSED
Steppin Up: from the second it comes on, its gritty and loud with (what i think) is the sound of a chainsaw and drill, but just when you think your in the middle of a house renovation, she slams a "Lug-Nut-Torque-Thingy" (thanks Schrick, lol) sample and then...MIA PERFECTION STARTS! lol "A-LA-DDIN, OK DEN, BOY I NEED A RUB?!" sick. next line, "ME N MA SPEAKAS SPEAK IN SUBA SUBA SUB!" simple as fuck and yet, ORGASM to my ears. got me excited. the rest of the song is great. keeps to her roots of off-beat sounds and scrambling them up in the blender of her mind.
F.V.-PASSED
XXXO: ok, when this song was first leaked on the internet, i LOVED it. as minimal as it was, i think there was some simplistic splendor to it. now, the master mix of the song? for some reason doesnt have the EXACT same affect on me, but im still a HUUUUGE FAN! its retro-electric-funk-hip-with more hop... and i love it.
F.V.-PASSED
Teqkilla: it starts...exciting...something falls...a coin in a hollow hole...and then, MIA BUSTS IT!! its a classic MIA song. i think its a perfect mix between Arular & Kala, so it fits perfectly in the 3rd album. Uuuunlike the beginning intro, this song had NOOOO END! i heard it when it was leaked originally, and i thought, "she better get someone to remix on this empty 3 minute beat spot..." i guess Maya heard me cause the next sec, there was a remix up featuring NICKI MINAJ on the N.E.E.T. site! but to my confusion, the song was still the same length..........
AAAaaaaaaand to my anger (lol), the final version is 6:20 long?!?! ummm...you gave me a shitty end of the deal when you make SICKNESS like 'The Message' way shorter than this...
(which is safe to say we've heard something similar to this from you before, :::cough::: Boys/BirdFlu :::cough:::) and then use 3 minutes of a song to play the same thing over and over again.
F.V.-PASSED
Lovalot: one of the songs NOT put out when Maya decided to leak the album on MySpace (thank god). i think its fuckin great. initially i said to myself,
"this sounds like something that shouldve been a bonus track",
it just has that feel to it. im actually glad she wrote this song cause the lyrics are self explanitory with a perfect simple but strong music stream to go with it. she does lovalot, she just has her way of showing it.
a good way of saying FUCK YOU to the CUNT-DOUCHE-QUEEN that is Lynn Hirschberg (and the many others that continue to bash her for ratings,) without putting 'Singer' on the album...
(my example..not Maya's, lol.)
...plus...as a latino...TRUST...homeboy loves his maracas on songs. lol.
F.V.-PASSED
Story to Be Told: first reaction? SLUM DOG MILLIONAIRE. as most of you 'Galangas' already know, Maya was asked to work on the score for the award winning film, and also earned a nomination spot for Best Original song. ...buut i digress... the song has a HEAVY Hindi undertone, which i just eat up everytime! Unlike the Kala re-workings of 'Jimmy' (my fav), this Hindi sound is more subtle & organic. has a clean flow and still has that certain MIA construction.
F.V.-PASSED
It Take a Muscle: FI!-NA!-LLY!!! IVE BEEN CRAVING MAYA TO THROW SOME ISLAND REGGAE TUNEAGE AT US, AND THIS MY FRIENDS, IIIIIS IIIIIT!!!! from the first notes to last echoing melodies, you WILL be rockin em' side to side til the end of it. what makes the song even better, is the lyrics. Now, Maya has been accused of not being much of a "lyrical" 'spit-teur', if you will, but in this song i think even those 'Neggy-Newtons' might just have to give it to her. And DO NOT forget to mention the tunnel like hollow of her beautiful singing.
YES, i demand you start LOVING HER MORE...RIGHT NOW!!...DO IT!! lol.
MOS DEF one of my top choices!
F.V.-PASSED
It Iz What It Iz: :::sigh::: it had potential, til it hit the chorus..then it made you feel exactly like the title. lol. i HATE saying this but i honestly dont know what else to say! its an album filler. no me gusta album fillers. but ill let this one slide boo..........(WAIT!...whats that i hear?!...YOU DID IT AGAIN?!?! DAMMIT MAYA!! The last 18 seconds of that song are a CRAZY little mini-beat throwdown that im SURE she made with her son, Ikhyds toy something and his voice... at least thats what it sounds like to me... and i eat sounds like that for breakfast...BIATCH!!)
F.V.-FAILED
Born Free: this was the first song that was leaked in April to show what was to come for /\/\/\Y/\. I mean... c'mon... how do you NOT jam? its impossible. its hard. its grundge. its metal. its MIA... with SPIKES!!
CHA CHING!
the best part of 'Born Free', is the video that was shortly released after the leaking. The video, and I dont mean the one SchrickyTicky and i made (on my youtube..go when your done) , was Directed by Romain Gavras. The video had Ginger kids, Bombs, and Ginger kids running from Bombs...... they sold me. lol. Its a short film that doesnt feature Maya herself, but like Romain's previous workings for JUSTICE, the music speaks for itself. the video works for the music, not the other way around. Kuddos to the both of them.
F.V.-PASSED
Meds and Feds: song starts. head bobbing. guitar riff makes my eyes open... and then i realize...'TREATS' by SLEIGH BELLS?! I know she recently added them to her label N.E.E.T. but i didnt think she'd do THAT, lol. Some MIA beats try to come through, but its a no go. the song is made by Derek Miller which is the guitarist of SB. It seems to me like she tried taking a page out of the SB handbook of how to make a song and tried to use it for herself.
Swiiiiiinng.... and a miss. :(
(you know how to make a song sound like your own girl! you didnt need to do that.)
that sounded like she did an MIA remix of 'Treats'... no no... none of that. leave the static riffs to the wonder duo you signed boo.

F.V.-FAILED
Tell Me Why: ........... o_O ............ WHAT IS THIS MAYA?! I thought T.I. and Rihanna were gonna start at any moment! EEEEEEEKK!!!! But then i realize... its /\/\/\Y/\'s version of her previous radio smasher, 'Paper Planes'. its commercial as FUCK. i will say this though! the song DOES grow on you. SchrickyTicky is currently disagreeing, but she'll be on board any minute now.. lol. because of it sell-out sound...
F.V.-FAILED
Space: UUUUFFFFFF!!!!! WHERE DO I BEGIN?! Hmmm... i guess maybe where it started?? She tweeted a HOMEMADE VIDEO of herself, performing the song with a crazy green laser show to add as a helpful mood setter to the "Space Odyssey" feeling. It sure as hell worked for me! i instantly made it my favorite and PRAYED that the final cut will sound like a 3D version of it or AT LEAST not a 're-worked TO DEATH' version. i guess the Fan Gods must have been listening cause daddy got what he wished for. Its so crisp and clean that it cuts my ears and seeps right through to where all my euphoria is stored. its lyrics are simple and very "how didnt i think of that" esque, but the beats and flow of it are like what happened to your excited glands when you first heard '$20 Dollar' off Kala.
Fans, you know what im talking about right?... Good.
F.V.-PASSED
Internet Connection: i heard talk of her making a song while she was on hold with Verizon, and that put me in a frenzy. i thought i was gonna be SUPER BLOWN AWAY with crazyness of mumbo jumbo electric beats and a scramble of chopped up words. Instead, i get minimal drums, dull lyrics, and miss-put placement of an annoying radar sound and a congo like 'HOO' that i just cant do that much. the choir in the chorus makes it listenable, but not enough for me to actually enjoy the song.
F.V.-FAILED
Illygirl: Initial sound made me think of dance music that would play while growing up in Miami... and the Mortal Kombat theme a bit..lol, but thats a GOOD thing. the rest of the song is a journey of something similar to how i felt about 'Story to Be Told', in the sense that it wouldve been a good shot for the SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE score.
F.V.-PASSED
Believer: sounds like something i know but i cant remember... OH! 'RUDE BOY!' LOL! DONT HATE ME!! Grab 'Rude Boy' and play the beginning, then play the begining of the chorus BEFORE the main beat drops...its a variation of that (in my head.) ITS NOT BAD THOUGH! i like Blaqstarr in it. i like Blaqstarr in alot of things..lol. i dont hate it at all, but i dont LOVE it either.
F.V.-PASSED
Caps Lock: Umm... im just confused. lol. i like it. its simple. its not very played with..cant decide if its a good one or a bad one. for some reason i keep hearing hint of Oriental influence. (Yes, im sure that sounds odd and wrong to you, but i hear it...lol.) Hearing it a 2nd time, i dig it. have an open mind about it and it works.
F.V.-PASSED

And that was it kiddies!

My BREAKDOWN for M.I.A._/\/\/\Y/\!

ill say this much though... in this album, i learned what Blaqstarr sounds like ...more. He was a part of the production in XXXO, Internet Connection, Illygirl, and Caps Lock. Knowing this, i feel like i would be able to pick out his magic touch on songs...and i like that. ^_^.

Thanks for 3rd one M.I.A.! See you on tour!!

Enjoi Kids..this ones for the Summer...