M.I.A. Dances at Rainbow Rave in "Y.A.L.A." Video
M.I.A. just dropped the video for "Y.A.L.A.," the hip hop/EDM banger from her new album Matangi, and as its YouTube description rightly says, the clip is a "rainbow rave explosion." Watch above.
It opens with a prescient heads-up: "This film contains flashing images." Photosensitive epileptics, you've been warned. Directed by Daniel Sannwald, the video is another collaboration with French fashion house KENZO, whose Fall/Winter 2013 show M.I.A. soundtracked. It's a total visual treat: Imagine a life-sized Lite-Brite, a Skittles rainbow and a million Hypercolor t-shirts, all combined in a dark club, and you're getting there.
Washed out neons flash and bleed onscreen, and M.I.A.—the video's "glow-in-the-dark Matangi goddess"—appears in an ornate dress with massive earrings and gold face paint, bathed in colors. Later, she's broken into pixels that flash in rhythm to the deep beats and fluxing skronks.
"Let's dance unto infinity with Y.A.L.A..," the video's description adds. "You Always Live Again!" Indeed: It's certainly hard to resist M.I.A.'s "rainbow rave" in this life and the next.
Speaking of which: The track boasts an eastern religion vibe, with M.I.A. talk-rapping about karma and rebirth. She recently dropped by Fuse HQ to explain. "I discovered this Hindu goddess named Matangi, which is a 5,000-year-old concept," M.I.A. explains. "[Matangi is] the goddess of spoken words, similar to rap music today.
"She stood for freedom of speech and communication," she adds. "It opened up a different way to study music for me. The more I found out, the more I got into it, and then I wanted to use that as a concept for my album."
Watch Fuse News' interview with the Sri Lankan/British rapper, then read about M.I.A.'s star-studded Matangi release party in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The party's star-studded guest list included Beastie Boys' Mike D, "Royals" singer Lorde, Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij, Das Racist rapper-gone-solo Heems, afro'd comedian Reggie Watts, fashion designers Alexander Wang and Timo Weiland and more!
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