If you tuned in to the Grammys on Sunday, you already caught this tidbit. MIA, who's baby was due on Sunday, showed up to the Grammys and performed her track"Swagger Like Us," in collaboration with T. I., Jay-Z, Kanye West and Lil Wayne, nine months pregnant. I think bad-ass is an understatement.
Start your Tuesday dancing!
I love this track. I will post better quality video when I get a chance. I am impressed by her energy level and slap in the face to conventional beliefs that pregnant women should hide themselves and their bodies. I have heard rumors that MIA is retiring early. I really hope this is untrue, she brings such a refreshing confidence and unapologetic feminism to her work. This South Asian sister beams with pride knowing someone so bad-ass is repping us.
Meganaut524 covered on the community site as well.
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I like how it wasn't even an issue to her....she just went out there and did her thing.
Yeah, she kicked ass, I loved it!
I hated how the response was so negative, in terms of 'shocking', 'outrageous' etcetera.
It takes serious swagger to rock dinner-plate-sized polka dots when you're 9 months pregnant.
I LOVE HER.
It pissed me off that the cameras kept trying to hide her belly though (Unless that's just the YouTube version, I didn't watch the Grammys)...
I noticed that too, it seemed like the cameras were actively trying to avoid her...I watched it on utube too, so I dunno - maybe there's another version?
It pissed me off that the cameras kept trying to hide her belly though (Unless that's just the YouTube version, I didn't watch the Grammys)...
For the first half of the video I was wondering why you could barely see her, but she's featured prominently in the second half. I don't know who filmed or edited this clip though.
She is so awesome! And I found out about her in one of feministing's comments, so thank you feministing!
On the sadder side, project rungay has this very dismissive look at her. I understand that their shtick is being snarky about clothes, but casting M.I.A. in the role of a young girl with self esteem issues, is way too much.
-anin
Uh, I'm pretty annoyed that I went to download this song on iTunes and it says it's by Jay-Z and T.I. and features Kanye West and Lil Wayne - but no M.I.A. It's just typical for the woman to have the repetitive chorus in a rap song, while the men actually get to sing substantial lyrics. Fuck you, four men.
I'm also thoroughly annoyed after watching some TV Guide Channel fashion special with Lisa Rinna last night in which she and three other morons sat around and made ignorant racist comments about how it looked like "Bollywood dancers were going to run out from under her (M.I.A.'s) skirts" (referring to her blue print dress, which I thought was gorgeous), while simultaneously praising will.i.am for his zany outfits, which are OK because he "owns" them and they're just his "style." wtf? M.I.A. *designs clothes* - but somehow she doesn't even own her own style?
I do luv her, though, so much. I have both of her albums and they're amazing.
LOVE HER! i love how comfortable she seemed, 9 months pregnant and busting moves, no big deal.
btw, samhita, i believe she announced she was taking time off (to give birth/be a momma, plus she's had numerous visa probs trying to get into the USA, so just taking a break) on her last tour. it got blown up into "M.I.A.'s retiring!", but i feel confident & hopeful she'll be back!
I really hate the music, but commend her for making a statement that women are beautiful and still capable even during pregnancy. I hate that women are always seen in "delicate condition" when they're pregnant. Yay for her!
I thought her dress was nifty and was happy to see that she was wearing flats. I hate it when celebrities feel the need to wear 4 inch heals when they're huge with their pregnancy. Normal, average women don't do that, why should we expect those in the limelight too?
I agree; she's pretty cool. I thought the dress was hysterical; not funny because she's pregnant, but just a funny dress. She looked like she was having fun.
I just have one question-this is my ignorance about pregnancy, so bear with me-I thought it was ok for women to run around (if not do really strenuous exercise) up til the baby falls out? I've heard some people complaining that doing this kind of thing is bad for a baby-is that true? Or is it kind of a case by case determination? Don't get me wrong, M.I.A. can do what the hell she wants, it's not really my business: I'm just curious.
I think that during a non-complicated pregnancy, bouncing around, dancing, etc are fine basically up until labor starts.
She probably consulted with a doctor to make sure that her exertions wouldn't hurt her baby; this is wild speculation, but the people running the grammys may have even requested/required it to avoid liability if something DID happen.
Yeah, I would think so. I only wondered because all of my friends who have had children have been pretty out of it by the end of the 9th month, and most of them stopped doing anything. I think pregnancy has been overtreated a bit; women forced into bedrest when it's not medically necessary and all. I think that's part of why this performance was so funktastic.
I never dance, but I was certainly running until the night my daughter was born. In a healthy pregnancy, you can do pretty much anything, except risk falling down (i.e., downhill skiing is usually discouraged). Also, the risk is higher at the beginning of the pregnancy, not at the end.
I think M.I.A. was awesome. We need more rea;;y pregnant women like that.
don't like rap, never have, never will. while mia is indeed beautiful (pregnant or not pregnant) i cannot support her in any way
shape or form until i am certain she is NOT
supporting the terrorist tamil tigers. fighting
for freedom is one thing. suicide bombings and
child soldiers are entirely another
just a lil' somethin' somethin' to think about
What makes you think she is? Of course, you have every right not to like her music, but why assume a political stance she's never taken (as far as I know)? As a side note, would you just assume that all artists from America support the Iraq war? Or everyone from Israel supports the bombings in Gaza?
NY Times looks at whether or not MIA supports Tamil Tigers: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/world/asia/11mia.html?ref=world. I know little about the Sri Lankan conflict so I can't weigh in.
Thanks for pointing this article out to me. I know very little about the Sri Lankan conflict as well, so I can't say that this supports or decries anything: I also apologize to a rose is a rose above-I didn't know where you were coming from.
Okay, cool, check this out... MIA's own words (from a MySpace blog post from September '08 - the NYTimes article was written this month):
so, um, yeah, plain as day "i'm not a LTTE supporter." for those who don't know, LTTE is commonly known as the "Tamil Tigers." MIA is of Tamil heritage, but that doesn't make her a terrorist. neither does caring about her people... i mean, really... the situation in Sri Lanka is messed up and simply casting the entire population of Sri Lankan Tamils as terrorists is what allows the government there to get away with abuses such as those reported here.
i mean, really, you can hate rap all you like, but hip hop - real hip hop - is a music born of a longing for peace. take Afrika Bamabaataa - a former warlord in the Black Spades who went on to found the Universal Zulu Nation, an organization that stands for "KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM, UNDERSTANDING, FREEDOM, JUSTICE, EQUALITY, PEACE, UNITY, LOVE, RESPECT, WORK, FUN, OVERCOMING THE NEGATIVE TO THE POSITIVE, ECONOMICS, MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, LIFE, TRUTH, FACTS, FAITH, AND THE ONENESS OF GOD."
i'm actually kind of surprised at the lack of knowledge exhibited by the NYTimes... i mean, really... read the young mama's own blog, for goodness sakes! it isn't that hard...
but i guess it makes for a more sensational story to take someone who's trying to give voice to thousands upon thousands of hurting people and paint her as a terrorist sympathizer (i mean, check out the headline!). dang.
and, look, this isn't an attack on anyone here... i just think it's important to do a little research before accusing someone of supporting a terrorist group.
folks ought to know that pointing out the Sri Lankan government's violent policies is very different than supporting the LTTE. i mean, we hear more about how terrible the LTTE is than we do about the atrocities committed by the government there. does that mean that the major news conglomerates are supporting the Sri Lankan government's violent, repressive campaigns in the north? not really... it may just mean that it's easier to get interviews with government representatives than with LTTE people.
i mean, really, check out the NYTimes coverage of the conflict and see if it's skewed one way or another.
in the interest of full disclosure, i'm not a terrorist sympathizer and i don't think murder can accomplish anything. and, like MIA, i think it's atrocious that ordinary folks - people who just want to live and love, cook food and dance, raise their children and go to parties - are the ones who suffer the most through these conflicts.
so i understand, with good reason, that you want to withhold your valuable support for MIA until you have proof, beyond a reasonable doubt, that she is not a terrorist sympathizer... you have no obligation to support anyone, but i hope this is enough evidence - for now, at any rate, that MIA doesn't support or condone violence of any kind... just as, when Thich Nhat Hanh wrote a poem about life from the perspective of a pirate who had raped a girl, he was neither condoning nor promoting rape nor piracy.
peace and blessings