M.I.A. claims the Grammys stole her ideas, art direction for Bob Marley tribute
Perpetually persecuted artist M.I.A. has taken to the Internet to let the world know that the Grammys have done her wrong. According to the singer/rapper/whatever, when the Grammys used a backdrop featuring squares during its Bob Marley tribute, those squares were totally aping squares M.I.A. uses as a backdrop during her own stage show.
Though the photo she offers as evidence isn’t exactly convincing (Because, come on… squares?), M.I.A. says her green and yellow squares were inspired by a Tamil Hindu temple she’s either seen or visited, and that if fans “wanna see the real thing or get it first” (whatever “it” is, maybe "squares"), they should go to an M.I.A. show. She also tweeted the phrase “MIA $500 : Grammys $5000000,” ostensibly to imply that the Grammys paid $5 million for some video screens and graphics for the segment. Which hopefully isn’t true, because if it is, they got taken for one expensive ride.
Apparently this kind of theft is something that happens to M.I.A. all the time, whether people are stealing her graphics or her right to be dour. Promisingly, she tweeted that she’s going to start “keeping a steal log” on her Tumblr to document all those slights.
Matangi, M.I.A.’s latest record, should be out this April 15, presuming no one steals it from her first.