Remember that new M.I.A track we told you about the other day? Well it turns out that it’s a protest song entitled “Space Odyssey” that M.I.A. and producer Rusko recorded after the New York Times ran a travel article that touted Sri Lanka as the best place to vacation in 2010 just two days after posting an article about brutal war crimes that may have been committed in the country.
We’re assuming that this lede is what set her off:
“For a quarter century, Sri Lanka seems to have been plagued by misfortune, including a brutal civil war between the Sinhalese-dominated government and a separatist Tamil group. 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.”
M.I.A, born in London and raised in Sri Lanka by parents supporting the Tamil group, headed to Twitter to let her feelings about the story be known.
Her publicist told The Fader that M.I.A “finds it reckless and ignorant of the paper to not even scratch their own walls on what is reality in Sri Lanka.” Some internet commenters have claimed that the atrocities in M.I.A.’s uploaded pictures were actually committed by Tamil soldiers.
What do you think? Sound off in comments.