
M.I.A. is known for being quite outspoken.
The Sri-Lankan-born singer stood up for what she believes in once again by proclaiming the rights of gingers everywhere. Her most commonly known song, Paper Planes, was made popular by the film Pineapple Express, and got her a lot of attention as an artist.
E! Hollywood News and Celebs Now reported that M.I.A., who's real name is Mathangi Arulpragasam, lashed out at her label, Universal Music Group, after her violent, genocide-themed music video "Born Free" was pulled from YouTube just hours after its release on Monday.
The artist tweeted angry posts blaming her music label for not allowing her to express her rights on YouTube.
It turned out the "Born Free" clip was yanked off by YouTube itself.
The violent and graphic clip portrays the U.S. as a fascist police state, focusing on a S.W.A.T. unit's raid of a downtown Los Angeles apartment complex. The cops in the video clip start rounding up redheaded men, bus them out to the desert and execute them in gruesome ways, all the while the lyrics repeat the chorus, "I was born free." (One example is that of a young boy who gets shot point-blank in the head... another man is literally blown apart by a bomb.)
M.I.A is not shy when it comes to speaking out about her views and is often under fire when it comes to her controversial outlook on issues.
I've seen the clip and it made me uncomfortable just because of its graphic nature and gory content. However, props to M.I.A. for doing something that makes us think.
It definitely got my attention.