Madonna slammed her on public radio for her “teenage and irrelevant” action during her world peace-themed performance, and the media has talked more about her than the Super Bowl or the rest of its halftime show. But before you forever remember M.I.A as the Super Bowl middle-finger girl, take a listen to her latest work, “Bad Girls.”
When British Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A. released this first single off her fourth album, her success seemed to be imminent. The track is as fresh as “Bucky Done Gun,” “Paper Planes” and other popular hits from her first two albums. As with many of her previous hits, the beats grow on you very quickly and you will find yourself hitting replay when the song ends. Relaxed rhythms and catchy lyrics make it easy for people to sing along.
Only a couple of days after M.I.A. released “Bad Girls,” her Super Bowl partner-in-crime released the first single off her 12th studio album, MDNA. Madonna’s track drew a lot of attention not only due to the sheer power of her brand name, but also because of its featured artists M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj. The new single, “Give Me All Your Luvin,'” is a simple and easy disco track that would not have made it to the top of the charts if it wasn’t for Madonna’s name. . Madge ironically sings, “‘Cause I’m a different kind of girl/ Every record sounds the same,” which seems humorous in the grand scheme of things.
Looking at the song’s video, one might wonder what a 53 year-old is doing amongst a swarm of football players, singing “Give me all your love and give me your love/ Give me all your love today, ” but that’s Madonna. Her Super Bowl halftime performance proved that age does not matter to her. She can even pull off cheerleading retro-disco style in 2012, proven by the fact that her performance was the most watched Super Bowl halftime show in history. It’s a shame that M.I.A.’s middle finger overshadowed the quality of the performance as a whole.
Despite the musical potential of Madonna and M.I.A.’s latest works,, M.I.A.’s slip at this year’s Super Bowl performance may tamper with her return to the music scene. Details about M.I.A.’s album, including the title, still remain unknown. Madonna’s album MDNA will be released March 26. The European leg of Madonna’s world tour will begin at the end of May in Israel and she will be playing at the United Center September 19 and 20.
-Jennifer Suh
