1. British Asian identity through music Case study -MIA

2. MIA MIA is one of he most culturally diverse, and critically acclaimed UK artists to emerge in the last 10 years. Do now Task: Look at the images of her on the worksheet. Questions: Is her ‘Asianess’ obvious through her mise-en-scene? What genre of music would you place her in from the images? Lets go to her website: http://www.miauk.com/

3. Case Study: MIA Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam (born 18 July 1975). Better known by her stage name M.I.A.(missing in action) is a songwriter, record producer, singer, fashion designer, and artist of Sri Lankan Tamil origin.stage name songwriterrecord producersingerfashion designerartistSri Lankan Tamil An accomplished visual artist by 2002, M.I.A. came to prominence in early 2004 through file-sharing of her singles "Galang" and "Sunshowers" on the Internet.file-sharingGalangSunshowersInternet She released her Mercury Prize-nominated debut album Arular in 2005. Her second album, Kala, was released in 2007 and gained her mainstream chart success. She has been nominated for two Grammy Awards and an Academy Award.Mercury PrizeArularKalaGrammy AwardsAcademy Award Her compositions have been noted to encompass various genres, often with political lyricism and artwork. M.I.A. has described her music style as being "other”.

4. MIA- cultural hybridity and musical fusion. MIA’s music is said to be a mix of dancehall, electro, hip hop and world music.dancehallelectro world music She is praised for her musical ‘fusion’ which has become popular with critics and some sections of the alternative-indie audience. However her musical experimentation and refusal to conform to any cultural stereotypes makes her an artist who doesn’t have a huge mainstream following. She is also not hugely popular amongst the Asian community. Task: Watch the videos for ‘Galang’ and ‘Sunshowers’ from her website and make notes on the sheet provided. http://www.singingfool.com/Title.aspx?publishedid=141945

5. ‘Arular’ MIA’s debut album ‘Arular’ was released worldwide in March 2005 to universal critical acclaim.Arular Composing and titling the album Arular in acknowledgment of her and her father's past, much of its focus lay in experimentation. ‘Arular’ is observational, reflecting on her experiences of cultural identity, politics, indie culture, popular culture, revolution, war and the working classes, exemplified by songs such as "Amazon“ and "Fire Fire’. identity, politicsindie culturepopular culturerevolutionwarworking class Many of the songs on the album are politically motivated showing her support for revolutionary groups such as the PLO and the Tamil independence movements.PLO Lyrically her songs often combine multi-lingual slang, popular culture imagery and social commentary.slang

6. ‘Kala’ In 2006 M.I.A. wrote and recorded her second studio album, Kala, named after her mother.Kala Task: Read through the lyrics of ‘20 Dollar’ and annotate the sheet. What is the song about? Are the lyrics meaningful or nonsense? Kala’ uses more diverse live instrumentation, layering traditional Indian dance and folk styles with soca, techno/rave and urumee melam (traditional Tamil drums) in songs such as "Boyz" and "XR2’.live instrumentationdancefolksocaurumee melamBoyz The album also saw her re-embrace the Bollywood film music from her childhood, as in the song ‘Jimmy’. Task: Listen to the song and watch the video for ‘Jimmy’ and make notes on the worksheet.

7. MIA- cultural hybrid, appropriator, innovator? Questions to conclude with: How explicit is her Asianess? How does he view her own identity? Is MIA a cultural hybrid? Explain. Does she appropriate another culture in the same manner as Jay Sean? How British is she? How influenced by America is she? Is she an example of deracialisation? Explain. Watch this brief interview with her on US TV. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4gafv_mia-interview- cbc-the-hour_musichttp://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4gafv_mia-interview- cbc-the-hour_music

8. Question: ‘How have British Asian artists attempted to forge their own identity through popular music’. Consider and include: The complex issues surrounding perceptions of Asianess within music. The Asian market, the BBC and niche genres. The success of Jay Sean and the notion of cultural appropriation/deracialisation. MIA and cultural hybridity/fusion.