M.I.A. discusses music industry censorship in new interview

M.I.A.'s feature-length documentary Matangi / Maya / M.I.A. was released last month, which revealed her war-torn home in Sri Lanka and the reasons why M.I.A.'s music is politically charged.

In a 45-minute interview with House Of Strombo, M.I.A. has opened up about experiencing censorship within the music industry. Around 21:30, the host asks M.I.A. if she knows what "her role is", and that she is a "person with a platform. M.I.A. gives a thorough answer, stating, "Everyone says 'you have a platform', but what do you mean by platform? Because my records are like buried because of the labelled issues with me. Sometimes it's personal and sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's just because I'm an outsider that doesn't fit into the "diversity" in America."

She also discusses how she has been restricted because of her ethnicity, "If you have a problem with distribution because you're outside acceptableness, then what is the platform?"

Later she adds, "Even though now they're like 'you can say what you want', and 'that's what it's all about', to me I really feel like that would be a fight, because I might have to make an anti-Trump record, but if I make an anti-anything else record it's not gonna wash."

Around 39:30 of the in-depth interview M.I.A. is asked if she has quit music, to which she replies, "We'll have to see. I love music, but I listen to a lot of old music now...I'm getting my head round it."