Shrewd in both the art of the beat and the art of noise, Mathangi Arulpragasam — better know as M.I.A. — made last year’s most inventive CD,
Kala (XL/Interscope). It’s ostensibly a dance-pop album, but it’s also an ambient masterpiece with riveting sonic interludes supercharged with political passions. This politically astute sonic playground was built from samples collected on travels through the Third World, then tied together in collaborations with artists from all corners of the globe, from India’s A.R. Rahman to Virginia’s Timbaland. M.I.A. is also a true child of the revolution. She grew up during her native Sri Lanka’s civil war, where the sensibilities that led her to write about identity, poverty, censorship, violence, immigration, and other social issues were formed.
Kala’s best tracks, like “Bird Flu” and “Boyz,” mix traditional Sri Lankan percussion with cutting-edge electronics and a deft, playful command of melody and rhyme — and cynicism. But it is intimately informed cynicism.
Kala is also the name of M.I.A’s mother and many of its songs are biographical. A decade ago, M.I.A. wanted to make a film about what it was like to be young in Sri Lanka, tangled in a world of political and social conflicts. That film never happened. But
Kala and 2005’s
Arular (XL/Interscope) did. And you can dance to them.
— Ted Drozdowski
Runners-up
1. Kanye West
2. Aesop Rock
3. Lupe Fiasco