From her support of the Tamil Tigers to her politically charged music videos, M.I.A. has never shied away from controversy.By James Montgomery
M.I.A. performs at the Super Bowl XLVI Halftime ShowPhoto: Jeff Kravitz/Film Magic
M.I.A.'s middle finger may currently be the most-discussed digit in America, dominating the post-Super Bowl chatter and earning swift rebukes from NBC and the NFL. But for those who've covered her career from the beginning, well, let's just say this is basically par for the course.
Because ever since M.I.A. first broke through in 2004, she's courted controversy, first for her outspoken support of the Tamil Tigers, the Sri Lankan separatist organization that engaged in acts of terror and has been linked to the assassination of Sri Lankan and Indian leaders. That support and her overtly political lyrics led to her being denied a travel visa by the U.S. government and earned her a spot on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's risk list in 2006. So, really, a middle finger is no big thing.
And over the past few years, she hasn't exactly mellowed. In 2010, she raised eyebrows with the graphic video for "Born Free," a clip that saw security forces (with American flags prominently displayed) round up red-headed citizens and summarily execute them in brutal fashion. It was a savage bit of socio-political commentary, though most missed that message entirely, focusing instead on the blood and guts, which earned the video a measure of YouTube ignominy and had
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