The Lost Episodes: MIA
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01:06Welcome back to The Out of Freeland Show.This is the second week of our lost episode serieson the 26th of August, season.three premieres.Folks, this week's episode is with MIA.I went to London for a soccer game from my bachelor party, and I'm disgusting.I was sick, and I'm sitting next to this angel.But it's a really good episode.
01:30I just watched it this morning.It's really good.You'll enjoy it.So that's probably why we didn't release it.I don't know.But also, New York Comedy Festival, November 27th, Town Hall, get your tickets.at Adam Freeland. Show.Thanks a lot, guys.
01:45Enjoy the episode.It's good.That's sorry, why you sound sarcastic?Uh, ladies and gentlemen,it is my distinct honor, privilege to welcome MIA.Give it up for her.You really brought an entourage today.Hi.
02:07Hi.Hi, Maya.Thanks for coming on.Hi, Adam.I'm a big fan.I was telling you on the phone yesterday.You strike me as a person that everything you try,you're good at.
02:19Is that right?Oh.You just could do it.Like, you didn't want to be a musician.You just did it.Is that right?You want to be a filmmaker.Yes.
02:29Yeah.Yeah.It takes a lot of money to make a film.Yeah.And I was like, how am I going to do that, you know?And then...I talked to a filmmaker because I thought he might have met you today,but he said that...
02:44Who?I think you just are a fan, but I wanted to know if you guys have met...I took some harmony today.Harmony Corinne?Yeah, yeah.Oh my God, I'm a number one fan.He said, say what up.Yeah, and you're like Dog 1-95 too.
02:57Those are your best year-five.Yeah.Hearing that, you went to Central St. Martins,which is like the art school in the UK.Were you like, you were cool growing up?Or were you weird?I was both.I was weird and cool.
03:13But Harmony Corinne made weird cool as well.Sure.So it was perfect.It was that perfect time.I was like 18 when he made, well, maybe 17, 18 when he made kids.Yeah.So it just...That made me afraid of having sex.
03:31You know, that there was a tiny little thing where weird, cool people belonged and it was nice.Yeah.Yeah.Do you have like early film projects from school still that you still have access to?I am, I just, I don't know, somewhere in my mom's attic, maybe.Yeah.Do you remember what they were?Oh God, yeah.
03:54I made this weird film, obviously.And it was about, it's funny, it was about numbers, okay?So I was trying to work something out.I was really, I was, okay, so if you did film at Sir Martins,you kind of had to be a lesbian, you know?And I would go in with stilettos and shit like that.And they were like, she needs to be kicked out.college so they would always have a group meeting saying my is coming in with like
04:24tight leggings and stilettos on and mini-skirts talking about the prejudice youexperience yeah so she's not serious about movies she needs to get kicked out so she'scargo shorts yes and a plaid shirt like everybody was sort of like that and like you know at that timeit was really fashionable to shave all your hair so everyone had like skin ads and trying to look likealiens and things and then there was me that was kind of like listening to hip-hopand you know and R&B and would be wearing stilettos but also like I did gothrough a mullet phase and stuff like that but then but you know I was experimentingyou're finding your thing you're I was finding my thing and and so I realized
05:16that the best films to make were materialmaterialist films where you affect the film which means that your creativitybecame more about not you know writing shots down and making narrative movies or Ididn't want to do like highly conceptual movies either so it was more about likehow to invent a style in the way you're fucking around yeah it's like the physicalform of the film, you know, like it was an art degree as well.Yeah. So the first one I made was about numbers and it was about this setting up thisfunny enough, it's like setting up a narrative but the narrative was just about this guy
06:09say like playing the lottery or something. Yeah, but each scene the way hechooses the numbers is just a weirdweird way, right? But the narrative of the film sets you up that he's one thing, but then at the end, it's something else totally. So it was, it's kind of like a...And did you earn the respect of the lesbian community or? I didn't. I didn't. They're a tough one.No, this is what happened. The actor that I cast her to do it, I swear to God,I filmed the stuff. He was really like cool and everything. And then like,Like, my friend, or the year after my friend who was in the same class,she ended up becoming like the first porn director for Channel X.
07:00Who?She was called Anna.What was her?She's a poor?Wow.She was doing porn while we were at Sir Martins.Oh, cool.And I'd cast this actor to be in this numbers film that I was making.
07:13And then a year later, she's like, you know, my cameraman dropped out.Can you come and help me do camera today?You shot a porno?So I went to do camera, but I was very highly opinionated about the lighting and this and that.I'd been obsessed about material filmmaking.And so I was not interested in the narrative.But then there's a knock of the door.The actor arrives, and I open the door, and it's the same actor, right?
07:42And then you got to see him having sex?Yeah.Oh, right.And basically, he couldn't have sex in front of him.me because he already knew me kind of thing.So then she fired me on the set and she was like,you need to leave and get out.You're really, you can't get hard.
07:59Yes, exactly.So then that was my like very short lived.So I've tried different things, yeah.But you started doing visual arts.You were making like an album artwork and stuff, like graphic arts and stuff.Is that correct?And you just smashed that and then what?You just became a music.
08:18I mean, it doesn't seem.Yes, I sometimes...There's something very charming about it.It's like the kind of girl that you like fall in love with and then she ruins youbecause she's just so amazing.But she, yeah, and then she goes like, oh, I have to go to Europe with a married man.And you're like, okay, fine, what's wrong with me?You were with a journalist that took you around to different genocides?
08:42I wasn't with him.There's a song about it, right?I was pining.But what I'm saying is, like, you had this, like,That was not past, okay?I'm just sayingwhat's clear is likeI have this image in my mind of
08:55you just like going through lifeand just like being purely creativeand like trying out different thingsand they kind ofbecause it is a very rare thingfor someone to just have a knackfor any creative artsthat they apply themselves to
09:11although that numbers movieI don't know about thatbut that...Yeah no it wasn't goodbut likebut I was trying somethingthing that you know I was I was trying to figure out how you know you it'sactually became a Hollywood formula of the next whatever you know like to set up
09:31a narrative and there's a twist at the end like yeah sure that became a thingChabalabaladian exactly he's a pro at that so that's it's a thing but you knowat that time my first year I was I was trying to do that but then anywaybecause obviously my dad's notfrom the art world you know he's a politician and he's a writer and things likethat yeah how did immigrant parents handle you being artist yeah exactly so it wasthe first time someone had done that so it was kind of lonely even though you sayoh you're just rolling around being creative and expressive I mean you must have
10:08been thrilling to be around in those days I don't know I'm sorry if it's alsoweird you know because you go home and your family are like weird that's the best yourwas a seamstress for the royal family.Yeah.Yeah, because...She made medals.Is that correct?Yeah, because during the time I was living in the council flat,
10:27my mom looked in the paper,and the only job that didn't require English was the sewing thing.And my mom's always been a seamstress, even in Sri Lanka.Yeah.So her and my cousin applied for the job,and they both got it, and it was around the corner from my school.And they chilled with the queen of England?And they would just sit in a room and sew these men.
10:48medals and it's like so bizarre you know I didn't really well you got a what is it calledMBE yeah so the full cycle of that is that my mom stitched my medal yeah which is weird what isit called yeah a member of the British Empire Empire how that feel and you got it from thequeen at her birthday party I got it from a princeWilliam.Prince William, the bald one.Yeah.Charles wasn't there.
11:24And then I went to Prince William, and as I got my man, I was like, hey, can yourelease Julian Assange?You said that?I did.So if you hear me talking, that's what I was saying.I was like, can you please release him out of HMRC, Belmarsh, which is the most worst prisonever.And he said, I'm sorry, it's out of my hands.
11:50And then I was like, but you're the king.Yeah, he's just the prince.The prince.Yeah, yeah.I was like, surely you can talk to your dad or your grandma.No, those guys can't do anything.He was like, no, it's out of my hands.I don't have that power.
12:03They just leave in a house.And then I walked off.Wait, so did you get, do they do it with a sword or no?That's not.No, he just like pins it on you, I think.What do you get?Like, do you get like a discount at like a Tesco's or so?Okay, I didn't get anything.
12:18What are like the, one of the bennies for an M.Nothing, but you know what?It's kind of useful right now today in this moment.Yeah.Because, you know, you're like canceled for words, but I got that medal for my words.One thing I've always fixated on is like there's this cultural exchange, like, especiallyrock and roll, like, like, like Mick Jagger sings in an American accent or Adele sings inin an American accent.
12:44Like, something about you and the clash is like,you're using your own voice.Like, was that a deliberate thing or?No, I'm just me, you know?Yeah.It's hard to be something you're not.Like Mike Skinner, I always thought it was really coolthat he sounds that way.
13:04So I had, I wanted to be as honest as possible.And also truth is important to me.So, like, you always had to be like that.so that it was just airtight, no one can knock you, you know.And I thought to me that was important to be truthful.Did you go to sound clashes and stuff?I actually came from a different zone.You're listening to hip-hop.
13:27I was listening to hip-hop and then I was listening to, you know,dance, rave music quite a lot.Like, one-thous.Yeah, so I did a bit of that and that was always part of my thing.But then I discovered, well, I came to America for the first time in the...in the late 90s or middle middle 90s.Yeah, something like that.And then that, then I got really into West Coast rap or any,
13:53rap from everywhere.And then I was a bit of a hardhead about thatuntil I went to St. Martin's.And then when I started mixing with peopleand they would take me to like London partiesbecause I didn't really go to those kind of parties,you know, like cool parties, jungle raves, which kind of samples dance for a lot.And it had, it's much more like street stuff.
14:20And then when I started going to fashion parties is when I was getting into like indie music.I guess Oasis came out, when did Oasis put their first record out?94.So I started Sir Martin's around 96.So that's what was popping, you know, Oasis, the Verve, like you had all this indie music.And Spike Jones started making.music videos and it was all just like the best kind of art, you know, radio head was like the biggestband. Yeah, best band ever. So I, you know, you couldn't avoid it. It was just like, in your face.
15:00It was just like the best time in London. It was basically the cool Britannica era. Yeah. And so youcouldn't avoid it. I was at Sir Martins. And that's when I got into the clash. So what was thesegue to music. Was it... I didn't want to be a musician at that time. I was just impressed bymusic videos, you know. So my ambitions after leaving Sir Martins was to be a music video director.And nobody would give me a job because you really had to like network to do that, you know.And people were like, what's she going to know? She's not a lesbian. She's not a lesbian.And it's so dominated by like these like dudes, you know. And, and, and, you know, and, you know, and,And so my favorite video at the time was,
15:47I would say every radio head video.Every radio head, yeah, that they were the pinnacle.And Bjork had amazing videos.So we were just like, wow, you know.It was like the best time for art.Do you remember the first song you made?The first one I wrote was MIA, which is the hidden.And you just dropped your first song that you ever tried.
16:08Yeah.Fucking hell.That was it.I mean, that's crazy.You know that's kind of, like in stand-up, like no one.one's good when they start like apparently Dave Chappelle was you know like but it is a veryrare thing to be able to just like you you're probably gonna be michael and star cheftonight if I had to guess I kind of can be yeah she kind of can be doing since I've been fired like
16:37cooking every day and it's just like wow you know like who you get fired by the MonopolymanYes.Yeah.The powers that, anyway.Tell me about the film CB4.Wow, you really, do you know people that went to some minds with me or something?No, I just love that.
16:59I just, no, I don't.Okay, CB4 came out.Obviously, I love comedy as well.It's a Chris, it's like a Chris Rock film.Yeah, and it's a spoof that Chris Rock did, yeah, of, well.of West Coast rap.And it was so hilarious,but obviously it's borderline not good.
17:21It's highly controversial.It wouldn't even get shot nowadays, you know?But at that time, it was so extreme,and it was so funny,and it was dealing with really important subjects.And I took it into college, and I was like,I want to, you know,because everybody kept dumb, like,
17:42Any suggestions for like films we need to discuss and you know in film theory or whatevereveryone would be like felini Godard and I was like drier yeah yes and I presented CB4 and theneveryone's like absolutely kick her out now kick her out was Jarvis cocker at your schoolso he'd graduated by the time I'd gone there PJ Harvey went there whoa yeah wellJarvis and I heard ShardustThey went there, but she did fashion.And then there was rumors that David Bowie went there, but I'm not sure.In terms of the way that music is distributed, in terms of like guerrilla, kind of self-produced
18:25marketing, like, you were kind of the, you and like maybe like, I don't know, Soldier Boy were like,do you consider yourself my space generation?I mean, that that is really just like it's a precursor to sound cloud and like everythingthat's come since then, right?Yeah, I guess so.I guess so.It just all happened so fast, didn't it?Like, because really I started off the DIY person
18:46and spray painting and pressing vinyals.And actually, the first demo, that MIA song,and Galang, were recorded on a dat tape.So I had to go and borrow like studio timeand they gave me MIA and Galang on a DAP.So you could put it on MySpace?Yeah, then I had to buy a DAP machine and, you know,and convert it.
19:07And so then, you know, when I did vinals,that was like, okay, now we're talking like common people language, like pressing vinals.Yeah.So people can play it in the DJ sets.And when I met Diplo, there was vials going on.My space hadn't happened.You know, that came like a couple years after.And you guys were dating, you were like collaborators as well?
19:33What's wrong?I can't say that?No.You had a boyfriend, sorry.Yeah.I mean, like, you got, you made paper plays together.He, he, he, he said, he found him.I discovered Diplow?
19:45I discovered him.Really?Yeah.Yeah.Yeah.Yeah.Yeah.Yeah.
19:52It sounds like you went to his show.I heard his demo.So he made his first song.It was called Newsflash and it was on a friend's mix tape and I was like, that sounds like the sound.Yeah.Or this person, they need, there's something that.I feel like is a thing that they get the same,or they've had the same upbringing musically.
20:19Yeah.And I could tell that by one demo.And then I just rang around and found out like where he was or who he was.And this is before the internet.And somebody had, he was signed to a British record label called Ninja Tunes.Okay.And or Big Data or something.and they booked him for a club night in London.
20:41Yeah.And I got the flyer, and then I went,and I took Galang, which was a white label.Oh.And I was like, can you play this song?We had some, you know, beats in common,and he knew some odd references that only I knew.And I was like, wow, that's pretty cool.
21:07But we didn't really get together.It's only after I went to Philly to make the mixtape.And you were telling me the story behind hearing the track for paper plays.We had a friend in common who was the editor of Fader magazine at the time called Knox Robinson.And Knox had a record label, and he went to Jamaica, and he was doing a remix album.the serious times rhythm.Okay.But this is how everything is connected
21:44because of all rhythms, yeah,he was doing serious times rhythm.I feel like I'm major in talking about serious times.And so he brought the record to my apartmentand me and West were living together at the timeand he was like, here's the Egyptian record, right?So Egyptian had a record.Holdja?
22:06No, it's before that, serious times.These are some serious timesGo you give me the tightest holeWe ever be in my lifeYeah that was his big crossover hitBut before that he did a serious songCalled the Serious TimesA serious time
22:22Is the best songI want to listen to itThe best songYou're gonna love this songIt's one of my favorite songsGo you give me the tightest holeHe doesn't say the tightest holeIt's like different lyrics
22:34It is the tightest holdI thought it was the titleI thought it was a nasty songAll rightSorry guys I apologize guysHe's a conscious guyHe's a very conscious guyHis first song is so beautiful
22:49And I was obsessed with the songWhat's it called gyptionSerious timesSo West was remixing thatOkayAnd he got the paper planes beatOn the goIt's like 930 in the morning
23:01And he's got the cash samplegoing.And he's going,and he's trying to fix it to theseus in serious times.And I was like, this is my favorite song.Why would you even ruin it?And then at the same time,
23:19I was like, I can write a song on that.So I was like, I have some lyricsand I kind of got out of bed, got on the mic,and we tried paper pains.Did you get in trouble for the gun?No.Oh, yeah, there was a bit.Yeah.
23:37Who cares?Interscope kept taking it out, and then we just kept fighting.They put out Kim by Eminem.They put out a song about him putting his wife in a trunk.Yeah, but you know, like people on the TV.You can't go boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and take your money?It's different when it comes from a brown woman.A baddie.
23:56It's very baddy stuff to do.I mean, that's, yeah.From a white, blonde guy is different.But when it comes from a brown woman,Yeah.You can't say boom, boom, boom, boom and take your money?With a past.Oh my God.
24:11Yeah.Was that the first time you'd gotten in trouble?You ain't saying that, eh?Was that the first time you got it in trouble?No, the first time was when I said, like, PLO, I don't surrender on my first song.Like Andrea?So I came out the gate in trouble, really.What's the lyric?
24:28In Sunshowers, which was my first single.Yeah.Yeah.It said, like, PLO, I don't surrender.Rendell.Andrea Pierlo, the soccer player for a...No, like PLO.Oh, like the PLO.
24:40Yeah, like Palestinian Liberation organization.You're early on the Palestine tip.It was my first sentence.So you guys, she got canceled for that?Yes, in 2004.So they took it off the radio, they canceled my song, and then people started writing into the American government saying,this person cannot come to America and perform.Because of that?
25:01Yes.So when I came to do my first show in New York,New York and I did the Knitting Factory.They told me at that point that people were writing in saying you can't have this artistperform in New York.And so that's when America pulled up my past history because I started getting immigrationproblems because of that.So before that, before 2004, I'd been coming and going in America all the time.
25:33I never had problems.I could come on an Esther, stay for three months.You know, like I worked with Diplo.I was on tour with Elastika.I'd been here visiting my family, like on the West Coast,like hanging out with my cousins and stuff.And never had problems.But the day I put out sun showers, the FBI went and like dug out all the stuff.
26:01And, you know, because they were.They wanted to find something on me and then they found this like record I had from, you know,when I was like 18 and then they were like, we're going to stamp her.Because you said PLO?Yes.And that's really when my stamp on my passport appeared.And since then, you know, I get called into immigration all the time and interrogated all the timeand it takes me like hours to get out of there.
26:30And that happened because of the sunshadowed song.The stuff you get in trouble for is kind of bullshit.It's such bullshit.Having a gun on the best song ever.Look at how forgiving I am to society.What about the Super Bowl?A middle finger.She did this at the Super Bowl.
26:50How badass is that?With Madonna.Yeah, and also, like, my lyric was, I don't give a shit.So it's not even the biggest, you know, it's not the same as like a suicide bomb.Oprah called you a terroristEverybody did at the timeBecause tigers were likeThey were kind of going off at the time
27:11But the New York Times was calling me thatYou knowYeahSo like everyoneReads the New York TimesSo before social mediaAnd before the social mediaCancellation world
27:24The media had the powerYou know and that's kind of how theyDid the thingAnd you know whatIt's really interestingbecause now I'm swept into this left-wing, right-wing conversation in the U.S.But when I first arrived and they were writing in saying this person can't perform, you know, in these venues,that, like, was, I don't know, I just generally took it as American.
27:57Like, it wasn't left or right, you know?Right.It was just, like, I don't know.But as this stuff was happening, you were still, your profile was growing.Luckily, every time they ban you on this thing, a new thing would pop up and you'd just be on that thing.Yeah.Like, those kids, so, like, they, when I first put my record out, they were like, we're not going to stock it in record shops because your music is weird and it's strange.Like, we don't know where a brown woman fits because you don't fit with the white thing and you don't fit with the black thing and we don't know where to put you and you ain't Desi.
28:33either. Like you're not making Indian music, you know?So we're not going to put you anywhere and we're just not going to sell your records.And they would come to Excel and say that, like Tower Records and Virgin, Megastore and shit.And Excel will call me in and say, they don't know where to put your record.And I'd be like, just put it next to the till.Like, if it doesn't go into a rack under genres, put it next to the till.And they would like, no.And luckily for me, lime wire.
29:03popped off, you know?And people starteddownloading it, andpartly that's because of Diplo,because he was already on tech.He was already on blogsand having chat rooms,and I didn't even have a computer
29:19like that. But Americanswere like 10 yearsahead of us, you know,on that kind of front.England hadn't caught up yet.But you, I wasintroducing Englandto the chat room world for the first time because...
29:37It sounded new.Yeah.The first time I heard you.Yeah, so it was kind of like popping off because of the internet.And thank God for the internet at that time.So piracy helped you.Piracy helped me because it got me on chat rooms.Yeah.
29:52And then when a ruler came out, like six months later,it got downloaded a million times for free.Yeah.So the record label didn't sell records.And my record label told me that Jack White from White Stripes was using all the vinals as shooting targets.He didn't like it.He didn't like it.What?
30:22So I don't know, maybe he liked it.But he was, it's just that there had so many vinyl's left over that they gave it to him.And he was using it as a shooting.ranch, you know, as a target.And I was like, and then obviously I blew up on the internet, because every time it's like,it's like, I love that my life is like this, that this is why I believe in God so much,because, you know, every time somebody does that, something else pops off.Like you just, you just can't be cancelled because the entire thing moves and, you know, that's, you know, that's.
31:01You know, that's beautiful.All press is good press.I don't know.No, I don't think that's what's happening to me.I genuinely, I'm not tied to anything.Like, it's not that nothing is precious,but you're not tied to the world, you know, like,I am of the world, but at the same time, I don't know.
31:23It's like, yeah, it's not like that, you know.But obviously you started collaborating,with like a million legendary artists.Who was the most inspiring?That's a nice question.The most inspiring.Timbo?Timbo is kind of going through a controversial thing
31:50with the AI thing right now.Oh really? I don't know.But of course, like before I worked with him,he was like the legend, you know.I know.And...Missy?I mean, like, Madonna, obviously.
32:05I never thought in my life I would meet Madonna, you know.Were there other female rappers that I showed love, like Missy Elliott?Yes, and Lauren Hill, I got to do some dates with her.I can't say the rain was my favorite song in fifth grade.Amazing.She was cool because she was like a big girl, and then all the guys in the videos would be like six-pack like hunks, right?It was kind of a reversal of like the hip hop like...The gays.
32:34Well, like the video...The female gays.Yeah, the female gays.Yeah, exactly.You worked with Ye?Yes.So when I met him, he was the most open-minded out of all the rappers.He kind of was like hungry.
32:48I think he was just hungry to know everything and learn everything.And he's like, what's going on, you know?Yeah.Because he also went to art school.Did he?I didn't know that.College dropout.I didn't realize that was an art school.
33:03Yeah.I know his mom was a teacher.Yeah.Donda.Yeah.Is the Diddy stuff real?Is all that stuff real?I have no idea.
33:12Yeah.Jay Z caught two.He got Epstein and Did he, right?That's a...Every time you mention that, I want to talk about a brand omni.Oh, you have smoke?Is there a thing?What?
33:29Did I touch on a thing with Jay?No.You got to smoke with her?Don't try to like...Do you bang, bang, bang, and you...I'm not that kind of host.The thread.Every time you try to get the thread, I talk about my threads.
33:43Finest copper threads.Oh, so you hate Jay-Z, you're gonna kill them.Don't cut that, okay.No.I didn't say that.These words did not come from...Wait, but is it...No, I don't have beef with anyone.
33:55Me neither.I forgive everyone.And my relationship.my relationship with God and in who I am.I beef with that's the only person I beef with.How dare you?Sometimes that I have questions.But you know, I think everything is a necessity.
34:14What are your favorite artists working right now?It's really hard because we're in AI time.Yeah.So.With music.Yeah, and I don't know.The definition of an artist.It sucks though.
34:28It kind of sucks because I don't know.No, no.You know, is the genius somebody who uses AI?Or is the genius somebody who absolutely resists it and really bring some conversation about that?Like I can't tell what I love right now.Like I listen to different sounds, for example, like...Like...Sorry.
34:53What was that?That's so...New York.What's a, yeah, for it?Farrt is huge in New York.I got...Slatsic.What, okay, what, what sounds?
35:09Hog, hog, booyoy, yo, yo.Like, there's a whole movement in India, right?There's many different things popping off.So they have, like, like, since lockdown and all of that,India, if you go to, like, villages,they have these sound systems that really belongs to the people you know and it'sreally hard to find they're not advertised on the internet they're like hiddenit's like private secret raves and things you know and that that what do they
35:45play that kind of movement to me is more thrilling so it's not sound like it issound this is sound but they use sound waves to compete so they set up like speakersystems.Oh, it's sound clash.It's not really like that, but it's literally about the sound waves.So they put like, say, a bottle of water in the middle of the two sound systems and someonehas to knock it over with the sound.So it's a sound clash, but it's like noise clash as well.
36:15I don't know.So you go there and your particles literally gets rearranged.Like when you go, you have to like...Have you been?Yeah.And I've never felt anything like it.Like I had to lie down for two days and assess like what had happened to my body.And if I was the same person ever again.
36:36But people go deaf like for like three, four days after they go to one of these.And it's just basically who.That was horrible.It's actually not a good feeling.Yeah, it sounds terrible.Yeah.But there's like, you know, issues like I spoke to the people in the village and everything and people say, this is not, you know, there's this is not.you know, this is not real music, you know, this is something else,
36:59but this is using sound in a different way.But they use, say they take EDM and electronic music from the Westor trance music or dance music,and they like just do stuff to it so hard, yeah.It's the most intense thing.And then they try to affect the environment,like blow chairs out of the room and shit.you know and it's like that's that's the dance that's the um parties that sounds terrible
37:33but it sounds i mean it's cool yeah so you know artistically i mean it depends what you think ofas art really you know like yeah we discussed that yesterday on that this is how bob dillon came upbecause if if art is only judged through what's popping on tic-tok and it's just about a dance routinethat kids can copy, then yes, Bob Dylan would not make it,and neither would Kurt Gavain, and neither would, you know, anybody, even me, you know.You would make it.Even if someone put a gun to my head to do a dance routine, I don't think I could.And then you take your money.
38:11Yeah, I would take the gun.In Toronto, every arrival is a statement, and nothing says it better than this.Cadillac Optic was the number one selling luxury EV in Canada for 2025.Find your rhythm across a seamless 30.3-inch display and an immersive 19 speaker AKG surround audio system.This city demands agility and optic delivers with precision to make every drive extraordinary.Let's take the Cadillac. Find out more at Cadillac canada.ca.Luxury sales claim based on S&P Global Mobility Canadian New Vehicle Total Registrations
38:41for calendar year 2025 for the Cadillac definition of luxury.Whether life serves you an ace or an unexpected backhand, the high-protein yogurtOikos Pro is there to feed your strength and help you turn every challenge into a smash.OICOS Pro helps build strong muscles and support muscle recovery with high protein and contains no added sugar because true strength isn't about being able to take the hits.It's about being able to bounce back. Oikos Pro Feed your strength. Visit oikos.ca for more detailsSo you mentioned on the phone you're like every time I do a podcast like I canceled. I'm like I didn't even know that.But it's like in researching you and learning more about you, the things that keep popping.up seems so nothing.
39:30And nobody apologizes for their nothingness.Well, it's just like for you having boom, boom, boom in the greatest song ever,or for you using the middle finger at the Super Bowl.Eating French fries, not babies.These are like such quaint, like controversies, right?Yeah.I heard an interview with Sharon Stone, right?And like her last major performance, I'm pretty sure in a major movie was Casino.
39:53You know, and I think like kind of if I'm piecing things together, is like, is if you're a woman that's like a little bit too, they can't be controlled, like, does it serve as a disadvantage at a certain point?This is a really great question. You said they'd be good. That is, that is people putting, trying to cancel you and put you in a box.But they're not doing it Taylor Swift.They're not.Because this is what I was saying on the podcast yesterday.Even they did it to me a few times.Even like supporting Julian Assange and now he's a free man and people love him now, you know.You're not the problem, but you are the target.
40:38Like you said, you're the target.And why are you a target?It boils down to spirituality, you know, because I do think it is a spiritual warfare.I think it is because...You don't think it's just something like guy in a boardroom?It's just like, ah, get her, get her out of it.You cannot be on that list every year for random things.You just cannot.
40:59If you're consistently on there, and then I had to go back to be like,was I on these lists from when I got famous,or was I on, like, experiencing stuff like this in my life throughout my life?And the truth is yes, you know, like there was always problems.You're canceled for being a Tamil.You're canceled for being a Tamil.and you know my school life was not easy it's not like I was like this you knowmy mom my dad would be cancelled for being from a country like for your
41:32yeah the thing is I I think that some of these things are a necessity yeah when you getcancelled I do I so it's not like I have strong feelings towards this but to be afemale pop star right like there there's a degree ofyou know, it's a company, right?It's like Taylor Swift LLC or something, right?Yes.You know, like you were someone that like,it's kind of a free spirit,
42:03and like, do you think that that puts you out of disadvantagebeyond your race, that you're just a personthat's not like a CEO of MIA?When I heard that interview with Sharon So going back to that,like her assessment was, yeah, that like,there'd been a decisionkind of that likeshe can't
42:24she's tooshe's like a 155 IQthey're likeyeah we can't likekind of likeSo what are you sayingabout Madonna then?Does she get in trouble?
42:32She didn't get in troublethemusic video for alike a prayerwhere's like that's the only timeshe's been in trouble isn't itthat song what is thatwhat do you think that song's about
42:46no but that is the only timeshe's been in troubleNo, I think when she made the sex bookWhen she was doing EuroticaUh-huhLike a virgin, people didn't like thatI'm down on my kneesI'm gonna take you there
42:59Isn't her song aboutI know people are sayingIt's about blood jobI know people are saying thatAnd she's giving black Jesus a blowjobIt's hereticalShe's sayingAnd I learned a lot
43:09Jesus was blackAnd that's kind of what Kanye saidYeahBut he got majorly cancelledAnd she gotMore famousI mean, like, does that float around in your mind or you just kind of unaffected by it?Because you also seem very well adjusted in speaking to you.
43:28Yeah, so they, yesterday they kept saying, are you traumatized?Are you traumatized?You don't seem to me.You don't seem to me.And you're like, no.For fucking what, though?For what?Yeah.
43:36That's their ignorance, not mine, you know?But you wonder, like, who's doing it?Who's saying canceled?Yeah, so then when I said they, they were like, who's they?And I thought that that was like a funny thing.But with me, honestly, I cannot define the they.The they in my case is many different types of people.I'm very varied in the palette of they.
44:01It's not the quotation marks.It's not in America.Like you said, even if it's the robots or the AI and the algorithms doing that,They're programming the machines to think like that because they're thinking like that.I think it's just guys that are really rich, they can just make decisions in the industry,if they want you probably.No, but it's cross the board, not just industries.Cross the board, division, division everywhere and hate everywhere.
44:31People only communicate now with negative comments, like you said.Real life is not like the internet.It's just like you go to dinner and then you see your dad, you go to fly home and see your dad,and then you go to vacation with your girls.with your girl you're on a beach it's kind of nice yeah nobody comes up to yougoing yeah yeah I mean also those are the things you kind of at the end of theday that you kind of matter like right like so it was like yeah like you whatyou flicked off the camera at the Super Bowl next to Madonna that's so sick yeah even
45:05Madonna would like that nobody said oh yeah does it affect you like do you wantto make tracks still like doesn't affect my musicaffect your desire to create art? I mean, it's not even music. No. Like...No, because that's my gift, you know, like, God gave me that. No one has the right to takethat away, and no one can. They don't have the power to do that. What are you working on right now?What are these Indian sounds? No. At the moment, I'm out of work. Well, see, there you go.Like, don't you deserve, I mean, you seem like an incredibly, like, creative.individual like yeah so when I say that it lasts for about 48 hours you know like at the
45:51moment I have just been making tracked focusing on my clothing line so tell us aboutthat this is Omni and has something to do with JZ or something no no it's got nothing todo but this a clothing line basically that came out two years ago and it's made ofmetal, you know. So this is copper. Yeah, this is copper and this is copper and it just likeIs it breathable? Yeah. I mean this is mesh. Oh, that's mesh, but what about the pads? Yeah, I would getkind of swampy. Well, this is mixed fabric. So it's patched with different ones and some are breathableand then it's got a zip. Make it as breathe. Wow. But there's different things and what is the purposeof the metal clothing? Okay, so you know you live in New York City.
46:45It's actually perfect for New York City.So you have all these skyscrapers.And if you look through the window,like every single window on every single skyscraperis got an internet router, you know?Yeah, everywhere.So every rooftop has got 5G towers,which is now 6G towers.
47:02And eventually you go to 10.Yes.And eventually you go to 10 because China's already on 10.So if America is killing us.They're just killing.It's insane.It's insane.I wish I would.
47:15I wish I could talk about that because I had to go there to make the stuff.You weren't there to get metal clothes.Yeah, because only they produce the fabric.Uh-huh.Yeah.But they're already on 10G, but they also give you the fabric.So you're saying that the radiation is bad for people's bodies and stuff?Yeah, so you know, like in the last 20 years, the sperm count in men has gone down 60%.
47:39I didn't know that.You didn't know that.No way.Oh, yeah.So it's really like, protection.Protecting your but is that because the cell phones? Yes because people put cell phones in their pocketThat sounds like some RF jr jr's type of well you know he's a smart man isn't he like he'sI don't know he seems kind of a like a wacko dude to me why I also you see that video of him trying
48:05to do push-ups you can do like two even though he's got big muscles he's definitely on roydshe's in his 70s so what when I'm in my 70s I'll do three push-ups fromfor sure, just to be him.You can't judge it on that.The physical body is like, like, you know, he, he, I don't know, I don't know the ins and outs of that.But he's not the only one who knows about this stuff.There's actually.Five Gs and stuff.
48:32Wait, so when did you discover that, like, the negative health impacts of that?Because there are people that go to that town in West Virginia that has, like, no service, right?I tell you what.It's like, I've heard of, like, people.Tamil and these people are very old in nature and I in my lifetimeYeahNot passed down information and things I've read but my entire life is you know, it's really I've come from living in a villagewith nothing no television and no cell phone no phone even and no car like I come from
49:11You knowYeah80 Sri Lanka had nothing and it was a war zone andAnd you're a part of a press minority too.No, but it's also, it's not outside of the wall.I remember a time with my own brain where you did not have anything electronic.I lived the most organic life in the world.Like you pick your fruit off the tree and you get your vegetable in the garden and you cook it and you eat it and you live.
49:39Simpler life.And yeah, and your entertainment was organic.Like your travel was organic.You used a bicycle.you went to, you wrote on slates.It's interesting because your music is very digital.I know.So in my lifetime, I did 10 years of that.
49:55So I'm not talking about my grandparents' life.I'm talking about my own life.I remember that.I remember what it feels like to eat off a banana leafand not off a plate, you know.I remember what it feels like to wear cottonand see the people that weave that cotton, you know.And then, obviously, I'm part of this.
50:15the digital revolution of everything that happened and all of these things and wrote a songcall connected to the Google, connected to the government, named my child, I Kid, like an iPhonethe same year, it came out.That's the first name?Yes.And they go by I kid?Mm-hmm.Really?
50:33Yeah.So, like, I embrace technology too.Like, I'm not a nonce.No, Nantes is a pedophile.What do you do?Nantes as an dummy, you know, like, I'm aware of you.I've lived in New York.I know what it feels like.
50:48You know what I think right now, I don't know anything about radiation or anything.Could be real, could be not.I know that it's labeled like conspiracy, right?But like, on the other hand, you're an artist, right?You should be wearing metal clothes.Yes.Do you know why?We used to permit.
51:03I'll wear metal clothes.Well, no, we used to permit for our artists to be, to be different.I watched an interview with Marlon Brando recently.And leaders of like new thought and new philosophy.of these new ideas.Like you say, oh, David Bowie,he premeditated content creators.And when I was, when I first came out as an artist,
51:27I was a content creator,which is why I shot the documentary.A lot of that footage is self-shot with my own camera.It's not, you know, I'm talking about the Maya Matangi documentarywhere you didn't have an artistthat had footage like that,because I was a selfie content creating film a personbefore the Arab digital social media.
51:53Like I shot it on candy cams, yeah, yeah, yeah.And was addressing the camera all the time.I used to do jackass videos all those.Yeah, and this is like 15 years before that or whatever.So when I had that footage and you were making that footage on MySpace,that then became a thing, content creating and self-documentingand taking selfies.And, you know, the cover of color is just a selfie photo on photo booths.
52:20So you've edited it and everyone's copy.It's not the point.I'm saying is, no, but what I'm saying is,just like David Bowie, 20 years before, said,there's going to be content creators.And yes, you just got, you're doing the thing he said.And we're like, wow, he foresaw the thing.Some artists have the ability to be the zeitgeist.
52:42I like that you're wearing metal clothes because you're dope.You're a genius.No, but...No, what I'm saying is...Why would you not wear clothes made out of silver and gold and copper and these things?It's luxury.Because I'm kind of like a breathable material.I like a cotton.
52:59Yes, but you know, copper in the ancient times, the yogis used copper is an antibacterial method.So they stored water in copper pots.You know, they ate from copper plates.And they did wear copper bracelets and things.Yeah, yeah.But they didn't have toilet paper also.It doesn't matter.The point is the beneficial...
53:19Huh?I'm not trolling, actually.No, it's not trolling, but it is beneficial to the human body.Natural material.We are made of dust.If you believe that we are made of material,or come from the stars or whatever people believe,like made from the dust in the material world.
53:41Yeah, well, we're made in God's image.Yes.Yes, and when we die, our body goes back to the ground, back to the minerals.So sad.And our soul and spirit goes to God.Yeah.You know?But our vessel is made of the material from Earth.
53:57So obviously anything made from the material of Earth is good for you.Yeah.You know, why wouldn't it be?Yeah.I mean, I don't know.It sounds like you're from California to me.But, no, I mean, but like, but you could be right.But like I don't want to like, I think you're a genius.
54:16And I think it's like, I think it's dope that you're wearing metal clothes.Honestly.And I think that it's like, I think that everyone wants to hate on everything.And like that, you know, I can see how that, like, people's reaction would be like, oh, that's conspiracy.See, whatever.But like, whatever, dude.Like, you know, Robert De Niro can wear metal clothes.I would have said, 25 years ago, you said, someone's going to make a thing that.
54:42goes into your brain called neurolink, I would have been like conspiracy theory.You know that guy.I don't.Musk?But why would-You're boys with Musk, though?I'm not actually.That's something the internet made up.
54:56That's conspiracy theory.Going back to what I was saying about you just being an enigmatic individual, I can see howpeople want to like weaponize that and it's just to me, after talking to you about artand about how you feel about art, it pisses me off.like truly like uh yeah what matters is like uh is like that you're like creativity uh you you knowwhat matters is that you make art and uh and it and it affects people and it you put it out and ithink you do and i think you are a genius well the thing is i'm dumb as fucked i don't know if you do thisit's no no no i i didn't say i'm a genius either because you can't say it about yourself
55:39only connie doesKanye does and Kanye did say that I was one.Did it?Yeah, then he said no.He changed his mind.Do you change his number?Huh?Did you change his number?
55:54You down to get a little bit of 5G so I could talk to Kansi?I use technology, that's why I'm wearing this.Like this is cotton.Okay, so get her phone, dude.Let's call Kanya right now.I just want to say what up.I can say I can fix all this.Kanye's not talking to me right now.
56:08Why?Because.Because you, why?Because I don't know, actually.He was like, no.You've been making art in the public eye for like 20 years, right?Yes.Does it feel like things have changed significantly?
56:22Like, does it feel like the way you're treated as an artistand the way people interact with your art is different?Does it make it more difficult?This is what Americans want to know.Like, have they done a successful job at deleting my, you know,history and my abilities or my gift or my talent.I don't know anyone who's doing that.They ask me this question a lot.
56:47They're like, has it worked?People are deleting you like you're R. Kelly?And I don't know if it's like the, you know.You're not R. Kelly.No, of course not.And this is why I'm like, why would it, why would it matter?Like, you ate a French fry.I eat French fries still.
57:04I love potato.Like I said, I want my husband to be like a potato that is versatility.You can fry it, mash it, grill it, roast it.Everything.And I'm like, I'm never going to give up eating potatoesbecause the New York Times didn't like it.Do you know what I mean?Yeah, it sucks to be a woman.
57:24Does it change your life?Does it change your life?And it's like, no, you have to look at the machineand be like, that's the machine.But the machine suffers too.Like, they do that to you, but they suffer too.Yeah.And you have to look at that and be like,
57:39they in 10 years timethey will be living in the environmentthat they create and every timethey can't fuck off dude my girlfriend is stillgonna be mad about that we need a new bed frameand shit the machines are gonnaever stop that from happeningand we got a bed frame a year and a half ago
57:55she says it's too squeakyno but youthat's insaneyeah but you have to think thatyou have a nice housedo I have a nice houseyeah it's probably amazingI live in a rented house in America
58:14I didn't ask you if you owned itprobably just awesome stuff is inside of itno not at all I live in an empty houseoh you're like Steve Jobs styleoh what's his styleI think like one chair in the middle of a whitewarehouse yeah I did that for a bitthat Kanye
58:30Kanye was into that toolet's just call him squash the beefand I'll make it rightfor himI love him so muchthat's goodhe needs loveI know and I
58:44he needs love for mebut so does a lot of peoplea lot of people need loveyeah do you feel like you need loveI thank Godfound unlimited amountin Godoh but that's not a guy
58:57you can chill with watch a moviewell it's a differentyou feel like if you're watching a movieGod's watching it with youactually funny enough yesbut he's not making jokes about the movienochilling with your friends and making jokes
59:11about a bad movie, God can't do that.No, that's a different kind of love, though.Friendship love.There's like seven types of love.But the infinite, abundant, you know, forgiving love is from God, you know.And you can say it's in yourself and you find it.But that's loving yourself and allowing God to, you know, exist in that space or whatever.And, you know, and it creates the universe to interact with you in a certain way that you, love is everywhere.
59:51Yeah, but we should just watch a bad movie with Maya.Like what?What do you consider?Windy City Heat.What should we watch?The Room?Have you seen The Room before?Ah, I wanted to see that.
01:00:05Yeah, we got a show for the Room.I haven't seen it in so long.manager, can we watch the room, please?What?So direct by Tom Omo, so, written by Tom and Miso,written by Tom and Mendo, sorry, Tomo.Okay, here.This reminds me of, like, the bad porn movies, my friend,
01:00:25used to make it.It's the acting level of porn.I cannot tape this.Why are you doing this to my life?This is like Daniel Johnston.This is outsider art.No, this is somebody who didn't make it to their therapy session.So basically, I'm on the Adam Friedman TV show,
01:00:41TV show and he's put on a whole bunch of horns.You just need it.I'm not, it's not bored.Honestly, this is on YouTube, you see her nipples.It's pretty cool.
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