The much-anticipated debut album from Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A., Arular, slated to hit stores on February 22nd, has been delayed until at least mid-March. The record has been riding a wave of positive pre-release press, including a four-star review in the current issue of Rolling Stone dubbing it "one of the new year's most remarkable albums."
According to a spokesperson for record label Beggar's Banquet, legal issues over a sample used on the record are postponing the release.
The twenty-eight-year-old Londoner, born Maya Arulpragasam, spent the first nine years of her life in the jungles of Sri Lanka in the midst of a violent civil war, before emigrating to the U.K. in 1986 with her mother and siblings. "The two years before I came to England were a mess," M.I.A. told Rolling Stone last month. "My school got burned down. Loads of people I knew were killed." (In December, Sri Lanka was devastated by the Asian tsunami.)
Having lived through so much, M.I.A. was undaunted by her prospects in music. "How I sing is like how a tone-deaf person would sing," she continued. "But I was like, 'I'm just gonna keep writing songs.' I had to understand that it's all about just being brave with who you are . . . I like taking people on. I'm a third-world refugee terrorist or whatever."
To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here
-
MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
-
POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix
Picks From Around the Web
blog comments powered by Disqus
We may use your e-mail address to send you the newsletter and offers that may interest you, on behalf of Rolling Stone and its partners. For more information please read our Privacy Policy.
Most Popular
Photos & Videos
Random Notes: Hottest Rock Pictures











