Never one to pass up an opportunity for controversy, M.I.A. tweeted this morning that the fact that her video for “Borders” didn’t make the MTV VMAs nomination list was a result of “racism, sexism, classism [and] elitism.” She followed up by suggesting that “‘Borders’ came representing people outside US showing [the world],” and that “this is a perfect example of ‘allowed’ voice vs excluded voices.”
This is a “Have you stopped beating your wife?” accusation, in that there’s really no way for MTV to respond to it (beyond just coming out and saying “We thought it was a shitty video,” I guess.) Equally, there’s really no way for M.I.A. to back up her accusations — there are a gazillion worthy videos shut out of the multigazillion-dollar corporate crapfest that are the VMAs every year, after all, and it’s not like inclusion is any guarantee of merit. (It’s also worth noting here that M.I.A. was nominated in 2012 for “Bad Girls.”)
Anyway, here’s the (excellent) video for “Borders,” which you should watch whether or not MTV thinks it’s any good: