Kala

Word on the street is that 1001albumsgenerator.com got hacked and shut down for 24 hours, so its sister company 1001annoyingalbumsgenerator.com stepped in for the day. Paper Planes wasn’t enough to save the album.

I can't get over that she used the Iron Maiden signature font for the "Fight On" text. I love it. For the actual album - it's a banger! The influence of Bollywood and South Asian and African culture on the album is clear both musically and lyrically, blending really well into the mainstream dance music. || I love that this album was able to be made extensively with Logic. Feels like an early success story proving you can make professional music with just a computer and good software (even though obviously they didn't JUST used Logic here. But extensively!) || Lyrically its awesome to have the themes addressing world poverty, immigration, and capitalism. Feels even more relevant today, MIA was ahead of the curve! Also obviously paper planes still whips ass. I think the music might be a 4 for me, but I want to throw full 5 at it because of all the radical outside factors that went into creation and themes!

This is a sonically dense and textured albums. So many new and interesting sounds, samples, references, and interpolations of other songs and styles just come out of nowhere but it's all united by M.I.A.'s creativity and politics. Also, THAT FUCKIN' GROOVE. This Aussie gives Kala five bags of Twisties out of five.

After literally 2 minutes my first (second, third, and...) thoughts are the same as some other oddly critically-praised albums on this list... I've always considered that so-called good music has to have one critical ingredient: *the music has to be good* - crazy concept. This first track is flat out unlistenable. Unimaginatively simple beat topped with a monotoned vocal throughout. Wait, did I say "first track?" - scratch that...apply to all tracks... It goes well beyond "I don't get this" for me - normally if I don't like something it's fine; there are more than a few I don't "get" or like but still can see how they might be influential but this... what I don't get here is why this is even on the 1001 list - it sounds like an undisciplined 8 year old from Birmingham got some primitive 808 machine and a microphone and was allowed to put this out. Not a particularly pleasing rapper - I'm not hearing anything interesting in the rhythm, it's toneless and bland, and altogether was a slog just trying to finish the album. Unlistenable. 1/10 1 star.

Experimental while still being catchy and globally minded in its sound and message without feeling like a scold, Kala storms out the gate at 100 miles an hour with the radio on and doesn't let up until it gives an entirely out-of-place Timbaland a chance to embarrass himself in a single rhyme. This album turned my walk into a jog, and even when I was worn out, I felt the urge to nod my head. Killer record. Key tracks: Bamboo Banga, World Town, Paper Planes

Wow. I'm tired just listening to this album. I did like "Jimmy", which was a respite in the frenetic-ness of the surrounding songs.

M.I.A. is a legendary artist. She's able to do with music things that few others can. This album is 15 years old and still sounds fresh. The mix of styles is so unique and one of the reasons this is called the album of the third world. Tamil instruments, Bollywood vibes, funk carioca, Sub-Saharan Africa percussion and even some didgeridoo thrown in for good measure. Most of the songs are gread, well crafted and full of layers - and "Paper Planes" is probably the best song of its decade.

Clever, innovative, effortless

If I had to choose between listening to this full album again or getting waterboarded for 47 minutes and 38 seconds I'd choose the latter. Paper Planes was the only song saving this from 1 star.

"Kala" is the second studio album by British hip hop artist M.I.A. Dance, world, hip hop and pop musical genres. The album was primarily written and produced by M.I.A. and Switch. Other producers listed include Blaqstarr, Morgan's, Diplo and Timbaland. It was recorded in numerous places including India, Angola, Trinidad, Liberia, Jamaica and Australia. She wanted to record in the US with Timbaland as the producer but had visa issues related to her parents connection with guerrillas in Sri Lanka. Oh, that might come up in a song. The music relied heavily on Logic Pro and had influences from South Asia with samples from Bollywood and Tamil cinema. Some of the lyrics have political themes related to the third world including immigration, poverty and capitalism. The album had widespread critical acclaim and, commercially, reached #18 in the US and #39 in the UK. "Bamboo Banga" begins things with a fast beat and M.I.A. with multiple voices. She begins a chant/rap. She repeats words that rhyme. A dance beat comes in midway through. I will like any song that samples the Modern Lovers' "Roadrunner." Tribal beats courtesy of the Indian urumee drums highlight "Bird Flu." A hypnotic beat. M.I.A. rapping. "Boyz" uses the urumee drums as well. Various noise samples including a pennywhistle. M.I.A. repeating "Na, Na, Na, Na." The song was influenced by her time in Jamaica and about being a female in the music industry. "Jimmy" brings the disco and dance club beat. A synth melody. Creative use of a Bollywood song. A song she used to dance to as a child. And a song that's a tribute to her Mother, whom the album title is named for. Speaking of creative sampling, without question my favorite sample use in any song is her sample of The Clash's "Straight to Hell" in "Paper Planes." Her rapping and singing. The combining of the beats, vocals, bump bump, camera and cash register into music. The song is about her problem with visas and the perception of immigrants. One of the best songs of this century in my opinion. This is an excellent album. A great fusion of world music, disco, hip hop and pop. The music is hypnotic, mysterious and danceable. Very creative use of samples...The Modern Lovers, Pixies, the Clash and Bollywood. A very high recommendation for all to listen to if you haven't and relisten to if you have.

As great as I remembered it.

I knew later M.I.A. albums were great. Don't know why I didn't think to check this one out. Probably assumed that Paper Planes was representative of the whole album. Not true.

I'm giving two fives in a row. I really was impressed by the variety of sounds on this album. Paper Planes was the obvious track I was looking forward to, but there was a lot of great stuff on the way up to it. "Jimmy" "Bamboo Banga" and other tracks were great!

Rating: 6/10 Mixed bag album. For better or worse, this album is very experimental. The highlights are absolutely fantastic, the production is interesting without being overwhelming and it's very melodic. When the experimentation does not work it's bad but not totally awful, this album is so interesting sonically that even when it does not work it's still interesting, although oftentimes quite annoying to listen to. I don't enjoy a decent bit of this but when it works it's something special and very creative. Favorite songs: Jimmy, 20 Dollar, XR2, Paper Planes, Come Around. Worst songs: Bamboo Banga, BirdFlu, Boyz.

Lots of waiting around for "Paper Planes".

Is it music? Jimmy and paper planes ok, rest is v strange.

I really can’t stand this music

una merda!

terrible

crap

So far, almost halfway through, this is the most exciting hip hop I’ve heard on this list that’s unfamiliar to me - in 2007 I was too busy discovering Adorno’s “Minima Moralia”, Berlin, D.I.Y. noise and the luxuries of amorous turmoil to notice how great “Paper Planes” is, which is funny as I can pick up some of all of that on “Kala”, a record that’s inconsistent in the trad romance sense, determinedly capricious in what it loots - references to “Roadrunner”, “Blue Monday” and the Pixies feel like theft rather than worthy homage - and manifestos that M.I.A. tears up even as she spiels them, sex, war and capitalism snapping at the ears throughout, the rhythm patterns mock-militaristic, and the rare perfect measure of mockery in her delivery. “Art school”, I hear some muttered: I agree, but in the best, post-punk connotation. This hits what riot grrrl was reaching for, and I finally have a name to associate with a shift I perceived when South Asian sounds that mainstream media had treated at best as canned exotica, at worst as comedic prompts, started to be expressed loudly and fiercely as their own thing on radio and screen. New to this near twenty years later, I’m struck by how modern it sounds.

Butt-Head: Check it out, Beavis, this dumb album generator thingy just gave us our 666th album. Beavis [mimicking Bruce Dickinson]: 6! 6! 6!…The number of the beeeast!!!! [they both head bang] Beavis: heh-heh…Satan is cool. Butt-Head: uh, Beavis…did I ever tell you that I, like, walk the path of the left hand? Beavis: uh…I don’t think so, Butt-Head. What’s that? Butt-Head: uh-huh-huh, let me show you. [Butt-Head slaps Beavis across the face with his left hand] Beavis: Ow! What the hell, Butt-Head! Why’d you do that? Butt-Head: I told you, I walk the left handed path, butt-munch. Beavis: I still don’t get- [Butt-Head slaps Beavis again] Beavis: Cut it out, Butt-Head! This sucks. Butt-Head: uh-huh-huh…you’re a dumbass. Beavis [sheepishly]: so..uh…Butt-Head, what album are we supposed to listen to? Butt-Head: uhhh…it says “Kala” by M.I.A Beavis [unenthusiastically]: …huh. [they sit in silence momentarily] Butt-Head: uhh…don’t just sit there, fartknocker… put on the record. Beavis [mumbling under his breath, annoyedly]: Why don’t you put it on, dill-weed? [They argue for a while over who is going to put on the album, with Beavis eventually acquiescing, and then listen to the record] Beavis: Hey, uh, Butt-Head…like, don’t get me wrong…it would have been cool if we got some Slayer for our 666th album…but this album is kind of awesome. Butt-Head: huh-huh…yeah, it definitely *slaps* [He slaps Beavis once again] Beavis: Dammit, Butt-Head…You know what? You can, like, slap me all you want, but it’s not going to stop me from getting down to these beats, butt-wipe. [Beavis starts twerking as “World Town” plays in the background] Butt-Head: …dumbass.

Anstrengend.

Chaotic explosion of different sounds and genres from across the world, for someone less talented then M.I.A. this would have been a trainwreck, however the result of this album is something which is as equally accessible as it is experimental. 2000s hip-hop was starting to get stale midway through the decade, this helped revitalise it. It is definitely ahead of it's time, a lot of the hip-hop from the 10s and even hyperpop from this decade can trace it's roots back to M.I.A.'s 2000s output.

Voici un résumé de l'album pour ceux qui seraient un peu pressés: klingklangklang boombadaboum pingibam (beaucoup de bruit pendant très longtemps - Paperplanes - bambadakling klong (un bruit très court mais intense)

Supermarkt, Heidenheim, Deutschland Fantastisches Album! 9/10

Kala is a global bop — restlessly brilliant in its construction. The beats hit hard, the sample choices are smart, and the lyrics land like headlines. Is this the sound of geopolitics on the dance floor? Chaotic rhythms stitched together with genre-hopping production. Disruptive and catchy as hell. The future is unevenly distributed, and for a moment, M.I.A. was broadcasting from the front lines.

Do I even need to listen to this? It is one of my favorite album from that era. Let me re-listen. MIA COMING BACK WITH POWER POWER. yep. Oh yeah BirdFlu.. drums 🥁 kids and SQUAWK! Boyz.. infectious rhythm. check. JIMMY AAJA throwback disco. 20 Dollar... the sequel to last album's 10 Dollar but this time you get AK's with Pixies throwbacks. WHERE IS MY MIND? XR2... Where were in you 92? Whistle whistle blow blow 🤯🤯🤯 Oh yeah that Paper Planes song that blew up a year after this album was released. Got her on the Super Bowl where she properly gave Corporate America the middle finger 🖕 Still a 5 star to me

M.I.A. - Kala I love all the different mixes of music from around the world on this album. It's such a breath of fresh air and not your regular cookie cutter music. We all know the song Paper Planes. I had only listened to it and I'm so glad that this popped up so I would actually listen to the entire album. I saw a copy of this on vinyl while in San Diego and passed it up as I didn't want an album for one song. Now I wish I'd picked it up! (Plus the song 20 dollar has a sample/interpretation of the Pixies 'Where is my mind" that is so great) 5/5

So glad this is on here. Deservedly so. Bringing dance hall into the mainstream

used to own the cd when i was a kid. hopefully this album has aged well over the years. Bamboo Banga - 3/5 BirdFlu - 3/5 Boyz - 4/5 Jimmy - 4/5 Hussel - 3/5 Mango Pickle Down River - 4/5 20 Dollar - 5/5 World Town - 4/5 The Turn - 4/5 XR2 - 4/5 Paper Planes - 5/5 Come Around - 4/5 (-1 star because Timbaland's feature RUINS this track halfway through. "duuuuh you and me need to go to your tee-pee" fuck off) Average score: 3.9/5 (rounding up) doesn't hit as hard as it did when i was younger, but it's a fine album. the sound choices on some of the tracks are a bit hard on the ears at times (like that obnoxious chicken clucking on BirdFlu, for example) favs: 20 Dollar, Paper Planes, Mango Pickle Down River least favs: BirdFlu, Timbaland's portion of Come Around

Young, dumb and full of fun

even knowing that i liked paper planes, i expected to hate this album given my experience with her first album. i was pleasantly surprised how listenable this was. there are a few odd choices but overall its fun and catchy. as a whole its probably closer to a 3 than a 4 but i saved a few of the tracks so im bumping it up

Hip-Hop meets Dance meets World Music - finally a Hip-Hop / Dance album I like. My favourite track on the album is "Paper Planes".

Completely ahead of its time. The current face of experimental hip hop as it takes a more electronic direction, including artists like Jane Remover and JPEFMAFIA wouldn't exist without this album. It completely pioneered a whole new way of looking at the genre of hip hop, and the effects of it are still being felt today.

I have always been a bit unsure of what to make of MIA. But I think she is the real deal. I find her work exciting and energising, with a fascinating mélange of sounds from around the world, especially South Asia. I really like this record, but (like I said), I'm not sure if it is genius or trash. It could be both! It reminds me of the first time I heard Neneh Cherry; I didn't understand 'Buffalo Girls' and thought it was rubbish. It took me a while to understand what she was doing and realise its true greatness. And I think MIA is the same. She obviously rubs a lot of people the wrong way and cops a lot of criticism because she doesn't play by the accepted rules. Maybe she's too female, too non-Western, too confident, not deferential enough for those critics' taste. Some people have describe this as a "world fusion" album, but I think, at heart, it is a pop hip hop album, but with a broad palate of sound sources, including samples and musicians from well outside the usual sources for Western bands. The thematic concerns, similarly, are much more informed by more global concerns. I love the way she incorporates a wide variety of cultural ephemera like a magpie (Pixies, Jonathon Richmond, lots of world influences that I can't name) into a focused and exciting piece of work. Interestingly, the one song I don't really rate, Jimmy, is largely a cover, and I don't think it plays to her strengths, which are simplicity, directness, confidence, colour, pride and openness.

While M.I.A.’s Kala isn’t her most impressive work, it has a vibrant energy and sonic boldness that keeps me hooked. With its innovative beats and provocative lyrics, the album creates a unique sensorial experience that, even among her more acclaimed work, maintains a captivating appeal. The collaborations and blending of cultural influences offer a fascinating perspective, showcasing M.I.A.’s artistic versatility and ensuring that, with each listen, new elements emerge and connect with the listener in unexpected ways.

M.I.A. walks a VERY fine line between annoying and intriguing. It sounds like something I should hate but her music just fascinates me.

Really liked this. Been a fan of hers for a while and enjoyed the beats.

Wild that MIA is on this list twice (and I've already heard both). Of the two albums, I would prefer this album. Stellar production and shocked by some of the samples ($20 and Blue Monday). Two weakish tracks Mango Pickle Down River (vocals not great) and Come Around (Timbaland really drags the track down). Outside of those two, album is a great listen. Big energy.

Super cool. Not your run of the mill hip hop. Definitely worth a listen if you like stuff that's a bit weird.

I used to be unsure about M.I.A., some of her songs were great but her singing voice grated on me a little. This album converted me. There are a couple of tracks I'm less into in but so many are brilliant! Mango Pickle Down River and Jimmy are incredibly fun, others like Come Down, Boyz, Hussel etc. really give the album strength. One trait that holds for every track on the album is how engaging and interesting they are. Absolutely found a spot in my collection.

Entertaining modern take on the ol' Adam Ant style - incessant and insistent rhythms banging the song into your skull without relying on a tune for its delivery. The best bits all have co-authors credited with their origins. My kids quite like this; not sure I'd listen again but you can't have everything.

It's like listening to the world's most aggressively British marching band, but the musicians are all on ecstacy and playing Casio keyboards for children.

Paper Planes, XR2, Boyz, and some of her older songs off Arular give the je ne sais quoi of late 2000s high school (Dansex) & early college (pimp plaza). However, I imagine if I weren't in this prime demographic when it was released, I'd find this album very abrasive.

Cash register gunshot song good, the rest of the album forgettable. 2.6 stars

Faites très attention lorsque vous allez lancer cet album ; pendant les dix premiers morceaux, la chanteuse répète les mêmes mots en boucle jusqu'à provoquer des douleurs au crâne qu'aucun doliprane 1000 ou 500 n'a le pouvoir d'apaiser. Prudence.

M.I.A. is like the poor man's Razzlekhan.

Not a big fan. The odd song was OK.

it was overall pretty bad but I did enjoy paper planes because who doesn’t know that song and some of it had an OK bit but I really didn’t like the singing and it was very repetitive

Nope, not my style.

I consider M.I.A.'s Kala to be a significant achievement in creating obnoxious, bloated, annoying and simultaneously awkward pop music. From the nasally sung and repetitive vocals on Bamboo Banga, to the bird-screaching and baby voices on BirdFlu, the horribly sounding soaring synths on Hussel and 20 Dollar, the horns on XR2 and the annoyingly distracting sampling on Paper Planes, I am not content. To be fair to Kala, Jimmy sounds alright, Mango has a great beat. Therefore, a 2/5 is my score.

Only enjoyed a couple of the songs in the album, excluding Paper Planes

“What if Toni Basil made a hip-hop album in the style of Art of Noise?” Yea, some questions are better left unasked.

Not a fan. I'm British, but British Rap has always been a bit cringeworthy.

It’s great that you can put records together on your own in your bedroom these days, but not everyone’s gonna like it.

Style over substance

Still an absolute banger of a record. Manages to pull from a whole range of different genres and sounds and make it work. An album that feels weirdly prescient of the music streaming era and the way it makes access to unique micro genres even easier. Paper Planes is obviously a big standout, but there's so many great tracks here. Bamboo Banga and Bird Flu open the album with a bang, whilst Jimmy is a real fun update on a Bollywood hit.

okay so I instantly recognized this album for one reason and one reason only: Paper Planes. I had absolutely no idea what to expect for the rest of the album! I was blown away. It's such a global album, so many influences from all over, such a cool concept and I've never heard anything else like it. It's fun but still very real and the lyrics are impactful. Every song has this infectious beat but is still so distinct from one another. It's so good!!! I am pleasantly surprised.

Indian beats?

Another one. All 5's!!!

she got the kanye disease but this album is incredible

Own it. Love it

This is such perfect music for a low-life high-tech cyberpunk setting 🥲🥹 Very vibrant and bold- chaotic explosion of sounds in the best possible way! What an absolute banger! Album rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Loved it! Funky and smart, kept me moving and grooving at work

A club-educated, expertly constructed set of dayglo bangers influenced by anything you’d hear coming out of a car in East London at 2AM. Serious serious skills on display here merging tribal drumming, post-punk, grime, bhangra, baile funk and loads more into radio friendly pop about (more or less) multiculturalism. She puts together sounds that were born apart (didgeridoo bass anyone?) and finds new sounds in them.

This is really good stuff. I'd heard paper planes, but wow. Few have managed to incorporate that much eastern and western music, and those who have don't generally do it with such style. It hits hard, it has silly bits and it is thrilling when she interpolates the modern lovers and the pixies.

Interesting album nice rythems and great samples. Wink wink. Yeah liked the energy the spunk.

The BEST

Back when I was a harsh hipster, I skipped out on this album because i felt it cheapened the Clash. Oh how dumb and how much I missed out by thinking that way. What an album of South Asian, English and American influences all coming together.

'I'm a world runner.' She means it: 'When you go Rwanda, Congo / Take me on a genocide tour / Take me on a truck to Darfur / Take me where you would go.' I can't think of a better album about moola. Foregrounding war-sponsored capitalism, Maya triumphs as few rappers do: not only is she smarter than most, she avers proudly that she doesn't read, that she just guesses ('The Turn'). Those 'guesses' figure into precise and luminous choruses that catapult M.I.A. from a 'conscious rapper' to our conscious feeler - our very own funky, can-do-no-wrong t'cha: 'I put people on the map that never seen a map.' Inimitable; unstoppable. What she doesn't do is preachify; what she does do is dig and inform. And make bangers.

She is one of the best female rappers of all time. Completely original and changed the genere amd influenced so many pop rap artists today that its insane.

Brilliant

All I wanna do is (Gunshot) (Gunshot) (Gunshot) (Gunshot) (Cash register sound) Kiss Luigi

Strong club banger start with Bamboo Banga. The first three songs are so strong! damn all of these songs are strong. The offkilter samples set up familiar grooves and gives the record this interesting sonic patina. Paper Planes certified banger. Its a shame the rest of this album got overshadowed by that one single, its awesome!

This album feels like it was made for me. I think M.I.A is the coolest. Like she's Tamil, im Tamil and idk much about her but I think she's prolly my fav famous brown person. And this album is named after her mom Kala which is literally my grandmother's name. My mom and MIA are like the same age so I imagine our Kalas are the same age too so basically this album is about my grandma. Also my mom's favorite dog growing up was called Jimmy. The sound of the album is just super homey to me

Sound like a world cup songs tf

If Arular was a raw spark, Kala is the wildfire. Released just two years after her debut, M.I.A.'s second album doesn’t just expand her sound—it explodes it. Where Arular felt like a snapshot of London’s underground, Kala ventures far beyond, weaving global rhythms, bold beats, and unapologetically brash energy into a sprawling, chaotic experience. It’s the sound of an artist hitting her stride, pushing boundaries even as her strengths and flaws grow more pronounced. Recorded across continents—India, Trinidad, Jamaica, and Australia—Kala digs deep into street music and traditional sounds, making its cultural influences feel genuine and embedded rather than borrowed. This globetrotting approach injects the album with a sense of restless energy and ambition. The production is Kala’s crown jewel. While Arular thrived on sparse, jarring beats, Kala embraced maximalism, layering Bollywood strings, African percussion, and dancehall grooves, often within the same song. Tracks like “Boyz” and “Bird Flu” are percussive earthquakes, while “Jimmy” struts with Bollywood disco flair. “Paper Planes,” the album’s sardonic centrepiece, combines gunshot and cash register samples to create a cultural juggernaut that’s instantly recognizable. Meanwhile, “20 Dollar,” with its Pixies sample, bridges worlds, teasing familiarity while remaining undeniably M.I.A. Each track pushes boundaries, even when the experiments occasionally overwhelm. What hasn’t changed is M.I.A.’s penchant for provocative, surface-level politics. If Arular felt like “a teenager cosplaying Noam Chomsky,” Kala is the diary entry after a round-the-world trip—broader in scope but still light on substance. Tracks like “Hussel” and “World Town” touch on immigration, capitalism, and survival, but rarely dive deep enough to fully realize their potential. Even “Paper Planes,” focussed on its critique of immigrant stereotypes, feels more impactful for its delivery than its depth. M.I.A. gestures toward global issues, but her voice—playful, defiant, hypnotic—often carries more weight than the words themselves. Despite these flaws, Kala endures because of its audacity. M.I.A.’s vision is fearless, her sound unpredictable, and her energy undeniable. This album is a global manifesto, pulsing with life and defiance. ⚬ Did/Do I own this release? It lives on an old iPod in my drawer. ⚬ Does this release belong on the list? Yes. This album was impossible to avoid for years, and even established artists tried to ape its sound. ⚬ Would this release make my personal list? You know what, yes. ⚬ Will I be listening to it again? In the right mood, this is an undeniable banger.

This is a Bamboo Banga. What a glow up from M.I.A.'s first album, which I enjoyed but didn't love. This one is loud, confident, full of crazy beats and sounds, and is just a kickass album through and through. Of course Paper Planes and Boyz are well known, but I liked the opener a lot, as well as 20 Dollar. This album is fully imbued with her Sri Lankan sound, which is cool for me.

Great album, lots of world music styles! Really excellent

Sometime in the hazy days of my twenties, I was somehow at a house party in the Old Fourth Ward where I didn't know anybody. Maybe I knew someone, but they left early?? I don't quite remember, but that's how things were in my twenties. Anyways, they had a DJ who was infatuated with M.I.A. and mostly just played her first album in its entirety and throwing in a song inbetween in an effort to be a "real" DJ and have an excuse to bring two turntables. After his set, I spoke with him and all he wanted to talk about was M.I.A. Years later, I heard "Paper Planes" on Album 88/WRAS 88.5 and loved it, but didn't know who it was until I heard it again while watching Slumdog Millionaire. I didn't waste time in picking up Kala. My wife (girlfriend at the time) saw the cover and thought it was some cheap basement BS and even laughed when "Bamboo Banga" first started, but we have since fallen in love with this album. The rhythmic yells and tongue rolls of children on "Birdflu" and the hanina-na-ninna-ninna, ha-na-ninna-na-ninna chanting on "Boyz" is so refreshingly unexpected in it's sophisticated synchopation, not to mention the complex rhythms and layers of drums in the hand drum ensemble (which came at a time when I was active in and studying West African hand-drumming from Guinea). Once the Bollywood samples on "Jimmy" and the Australian aboriginal children off-time rapping on "Mango Pickle Down River" kick in, we see Kala as a hip-hop interpretation of world music. It's a celebration of and collaboration with the variety of sounds that make up the global human experience. "Represent the World Town" indeed. For her part, M.I.A. plays with phrasing that wouldn't work in traditional rap, adding an extra bar or a couple beats, or singing a free-form version of the Pixies' "Where Is My Mind?" on "20 Dollar" which ignores the trappings of needing to stay on the beat. It still works; she knows what she's doing. It's a party, and everyone is invited.

Very much not my normal taste and I was only aware of Paper Planes before, but I thought this was fantastic Maybe it was the smattering of rock samples littered throughout but this was great from beginning to end

Banger

This album already gets points for me for paper planes. This came out and got really big when I was around 18, and was a huge club anthem at the time. Then there are all the little nods to other songs and artists I love -- Iron Maiden on the cover, Modern Lovers, the Pixies, the Clash... probably more that that I didn't pick up on the first listen. Then it's just kind of a cool album, very experimental, the samples are cool, I like her vocals. This one won me over.

Truly a masterpiece

Did this thing just open with a Modern Lovers reference. This thing rules so much. It’s sonically varied and interesting and catchy and chaotic in all the best ways. I don’t know if I would have had the song with Australian kids rapping, but, hey I dunno. Jimmy is one of the craziest songs ever. When those 70s disco strings came in a fucking cheered.

This is a sonically dense and textured albums. So many new and interesting sounds, samples, references, and interpolations of other songs and styles just come out of nowhere but it's all united by M.I.A.'s creativity and politics. Also, THAT FUCKIN Groove.

It's a banger. I first listened to this album back in like 8th grade a ton, still sounds cool and fresh today, and you can see a bunch of influences play out.

i just love MIA and wish she would come back with stuff like this - such a creative and unique album that oftentimes has little to no melody outside of her voice yet still hits with meaningful and intentional lyricism calling out international affairs.

I really wanted to like this more than I did, this was incredibly innovative at the time it came in regard to the sound and particularly the attitude, and the plethora of other things that were fresh and new about MIA and the music she was making. Some of these songs are really great like the opening track there are definitely some bangers here but overall I don't think she truly understood the ways in which she was pushing the envelope. That opinion is largely influenced by how her career has gone since this time as well. Ultimately I think she sort of accidentally stumbled onto a massive and innovative sound that informed a decade or more of pop music to follow, and I think I love the music that she influenced a lot more than her music itself. That being said though the miserable old fucks on here that only wanna hear the same 50 blues-based white guy artists can get fucked she's getting a perfect score

I mean I'm not sure you can get much cooler, in terms of the image she's developed here. For whatever that's worth. Not sure how many of her collaborators have actually "never seen a map" haha. But yeah super catchy. Super different. At least among mainstream options here in the United States. She also just has fun musicality and I like her melodies. mOnD0 ExTra bonUs points for the Pixies and Clash references 😍

Pretty fire

Wow, what an album. I don't think I've heard anything else remotely like that. The mix of so many genres and it not feeling laboured or forced is incredible. I always think the sign of a good album is when you feel like you've only been listening a few minutes but you've actually listened to the whole album. Added to my playlist and will be a regular listener.

I knew I liked Paper Planes but hadn’t bothered to explore her music any further. What an idiot. Whilst there’s a clear debt to The Clash (and Adam and The Ants on Bird Flu) it was a joy to discover The Wilcannia Mob (and realise Die Antwoord had clearly had a dip in that river). Loved it all, immediately played it again and am pretty sure it’ll be on heavy rotation this summer.

This is amazing. M.I.A herself is good enough but what really shines on this album is the great production. These beats are so good, excellent stuff!

This is why I started doing this! I would have never thought to listen to M.I.A. if it wasn’t for this list and I’m absolutely vibing it. Such a different sound for me and I’m loving it. I knew Paper Planes and I think Boyz too but it’s all such a good sound and beat.

Great album, been listening to it for years.

BOM DEMAIS!!!!!

I'm pleasantly surprised. I know M.IA. through her radio releases, primarily Paper Planes (which, ironically, is one of the weakest songs on the album in my opinion). They're catchy, but they've never really grabbed me enough for me to seek out a full album. I can now say that was a mistake. This album is really, really good. Taking a cornucopia of interesting sounds, cultures, experiences, and ideas, she's able to weave this really catchy tapestry of sound that has kept me bobbing my head and tapping my toes. I think the first two songs got a little repetitive within themselves, but that is a small niggle, and one that does not portend further repetitiousness throughout the album. Each song sounds different, but still work really well as part of a coherent album. This is a great album. 4.5 stars.

Such a wonderful collection of joyous noise by a world music master. I’d rate it 5 stars even without Paper Planes, but that just shoves it into the stratosphere.