New M.I.A. Song "Space Odyssey" An Attack on "New York Times"

The video M.I.A. posted on her Twitter earlier this week is in fact a newly recorded track called "Space Odyssey" that the Kala singer-rapper quickly wrote and recorded as an angry response to a New York Times story, the artist's publicist tells The Fader. "Space Odyssey," produced by M.I.A. and Rusko, will likely appear on M.I.A.'s upcoming third album.

Earlier this week, the Times published an article called "The 31 Places to Go in 2010" that listed Sri Lanka at Number One. M.I.A., whose family has Sri Lankan Tamil roots, lashed out at the newspaper on her Twitter, countering NYT's photographs of "scenic" Sri Lanka with images that literally show children torn apart by the country's civil war between the Tamil and the Sinhalese government. "Here is the lush coastline they are talking about," M.I.A. tweeted (warning: only click that link if you want to have your day ruined). "The song and video were made Monday night for $100, after the New York Times, as she says: 'fucked up so hard,' " M.I.A.'s publicist told The Fader.

Check out a collection of M.I.A.'s wildest looks.

"Space Odyssey" also seems to reflect M.I.A.'s desire to sing more on her upcoming album, as she told Rolling Stone's Brian Hiatt in a recent interview, "I just stopped singing on the last one because I put more emphasis into production, so I was more about making beats and sang less on my last album." M.I.A., one of Rolling Stone's Artists of the Decade, collaborated mostly with producer Blaqstarr on her upcoming third disc. Songs expected to feature on the new album include "I Fight the Ones That Fight Me" and "I'm Down Like Your Internet Connection," which features Filipino Verizon workers singing the hook.

Related Stories:
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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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