M.I.A. to Times: F.U.C.K.Y.O.U.!

Sri Lanka-born rapper/singer takes exception to NYC paper's purported stance on, er, Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, new album incoming.

By Fred Mills

Sometimes a travel feature is just a travel feature, Dr. Freud - but that isn't stopping the mighty M.I.A. from pulling the lens back way beyond its intended context.

In an article published in Sunday's New York Times, M.I.A.'s country of origin, Sri Lanka, is one among "The 31 Places to Go in 2010," tourist/travel-wise. Wrote the Times:

For a quarter century, Sri Lanka seems to have been plagued by misfortune, including a brutal civil war between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority. But the conflict finally ended last May, ushering in a more peaceful era for this teardrop-shaped island off India's coast, rich in natural beauty and cultural splendors.

As most folks who have followed M.I.A.'s career know, her father was a political activist for the opposition in Sri Lanka, and she named her debut album after him. Over the past few years she's also gone on record with sundry anti-Sri Lankan government statements.

So with a head full of steam, M.I.A. took to the celebrity tool du jour, Twitter, to voice her indignity at the Times travel piece - repeat, travel piece, and not an op-ed or politically themed article. Among the choice Tweets, accompanied by relevant (and admittedly gruesome) Twitpic images showing dead (presumably murdered) Sri Lankans:

http://twitpic.com/xqb4y - FUCK NEW YORK TIMES! DO YOU THINK YOU NEED TO GO HERE ON VACATION?

http://twitpic.com/xqcrl - HERE IS THE LUSH COASTLINE THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT

http://twitpic.com/xqarp - FUCK NEW YORK TIMES!!! http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/travel/10places.html

Mmm.... overkill. Repeat after me: T.R.A.V.E.L. P.I.E.C.E

Celebrities making asses of themselves isn't anything new, of course, and they do sometimes manage to direct people's attentions in directions they might not otherwise condider. So M.I.A. can comfort herself with the knowledge that even though, journalistically, she's a lightweight, at least with her Twitter screeds she's generated some additional food for thought on what's a pretty slow news day.

Looking forward to that new album, doll - don't worry, we still love ya - which, in a totally unrelated stroke of marketing, was announced just a few days ago and is slated for a summer release!