I’m a little late listening to Kala. I highly enjoyed Diplo and MIA’s “Piracy Funds Terrorism” mixtapes, but for some reason I just never picked up M.I.A.’s Kala when it came out in 2007. After the critical acclaim, I finally grabbed it. After Arular’s praise, she could have certainly picked up some producers that would have gotten her more radio play, but the influence of Diplo (breaks producer) and Switch (electro producer) are strong, making songs that are hardly popish… but rather street and nightclub gritty. The only producer mainstream would recognize would be Timbaland, and on his track “Come Around” you can already see how he could take her sound and make it ready for radio. But she doesn’t seem to want that, and maybe that is what saved this album.
“Paper Planes” is the most popular song from the album, and I’ve even heard it on some American airwaves after Pineapple Express (movie) was released featuring the tune. Her mellow voice over hard clanking beats is shown on this track, with a shotgun and cash register resonating throughout. Another winning track is “20 Dollars,” the only track that Switch did on his own, making me wonder if some of the other songs would have been produced better without so many chiefs.
The mastering follows the trend of louder is better, with blazing treble and thick lows. Perhaps the intent is to blast it on your iPod or car stereo, or maybe to simulate the nightclub soundsystems Diplo and Switch are so well known to use ... but for those of us who actually have a proper setup, it doesn't work well for.
The album is good, but it falls short of what I believe she was shooting for. It pulls in so many styles, that it lacks cohesiveness . There are a few excellent and powerful tracks, spread across some tracks that would fall just short of coming together. The album is worth picking up, but I expect M.I.As next album to be all gold, rather than partially.
"Paper Planes"
"20 Dollar"
