The Colorful Blob on a Monochromatic Pirate Ship

Maya Arulpragasam continues to engross me, despite my relatively limited interest in both Arular and Kala (maybe I should get a hold of that Diplo mixtape...).

In this month's Spin cover story, Lorraine Ali highlights the British/Sri-Lankan artists' increasingly complex role as a third-to-first world musician and her recent leanings to the latter designation - most notably by signing with Interscope, licensing her songs for commercials, marrying into an insanely wealthy family, and that whole "Paper Planes" episode.

Overall, Ali argues that M.I.A.'s success has been "less about assimilation [and] more about following her instincts," defending a suspect batch of decisions the artist probably wouldn't have made five years ago. Arulpragasam, meanwhile, now views herself as "polluting the mainstream, or hacking into it" and -- in a particularly noteworthy part of the article -- looked down to the occupant of her belly to ask "Do I need to turn it up or tone it down?"

Regardless of potential hypocrisies, there's no denying this all makes for a fascinating story:

M.I.A. spent much of her young life destitute in the Sri Lankan countryside. "Jimmy used to be my anthem when we lived there," says M.I.A. of the Bollywood disco hit she revamped on Kala. "For a living, I'd dance to that song and people paid me. I'd come home and bring my mom food or money. If not that, I'd go to parties and draw stupid portraits of people, and they'd give me money." Ironically, the movie "Jimmy" came from, 1982's Disco Dancer, concerns a poor boy who performs on the street for money and grows up to be a star.

For those who have followed her career for some time, M.I.A's rise to stardom only serves to complicate an already complicated, controversial picture: there's those allegations over her relation to the Tamil Tigers (including vitriolic criticism from other Sri Lankan-descendant artists), a sexist dispute over her role in the studio, and, now, a weird battle over which rap stars have more sway in hip-hop fashion that centers around a sample from "Paper Planes" (and somehow involves Lil Wayne reppin' both sides).

In short, M.I.A. has to combat misogyny, post-9/11 anxiety, cultural imperialism, and morning sickness all at once. And (as tongue-in-cheek as that sentence may appear) one must admit that the 31-year-old is damn resilient for doing so:

Some Token Mp3s:

"Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja" -- Bappi Lahiri -- Disco Dancer
"Straight to Hell" -- The Clash -- Combat Rock
"Hypnotic Planes" -- Notorious B.I.G./"Paper Planes" mash-up