M.I.A. Blasts NYT Writer In New Song 'I'm A Singer (Haters)'

M.I.A. was unhappy with a condescending New York Times profile that ran in the paper's magazine over the weekend, so she shared the writer's phone number over Twitter.

Now M.I.A. has found another way to channel her anger at Lynn Hirschberg and the NYT--through a track called 'I'm a Singer (Haters)' posted on her website. Here are some lyrics, listen below:

And the story's always f---ed by the time it hits
Why the hell would journalists be thick as s---
Cuz lies equals power equals politics.
I'm a singer
Never said anything else
I didn't lie to you
Thinkin' of somebody else
You can talk sh-- to me I'm used to it
You can make me hard with the wounds that I have to lick
You can pick on me and I can see it at a click.

M.I.A. has also posted excerpts from the interview on her website. Turns out Hirschberg is the one who ordered the truffle fries.

"'I kind of want to be an outsider,' she said, eating a truffle-flavored French fry," Hirschberg wrote of M.I.A. in the NYT piece. "'I don't want to make the same music, sing about the same stuff, talk about the same things. If that makes me a terrorist, then I'm a terrorist.'"

LISTEN:

Comments

[Task3G]

10:13 AM on 06/24/2010

This is a beat by someone else from like 2007 and she doesn't even ride it well. I didn't even make it to the end of the song. Next.

[TinaGirlla]

04:10 PM on 06/23/2010

Yawn.

[Kryptonite1]

02:21 PM on 06/07/2010

If Hirschberg is so knowledgeable on what MAKES a "good editor" why is she such a rubbish one?

[jasones]

04:10 PM on 06/03/2010

M.I.A’s, her self belong to the persecuted community, the Sri Lankan regime and its armed forces responsible for the suffering of women, children and elderly Tamils in Sri Lanka. She belong to the persecuted community of at least 40,000 slaughtered and maimed 50,000 more civilians in a matter of few days in Last May in shelling, bombing, gashing, raping, torturing and other forms of despicable violence against unarmed civilians under the name of defeating the rebels.

M.I.A, may be, she was frustrated on the civilized world’s behaviour, when deliberately so much of bloodshed, ethnic cleansing and genocide faced by her community. Even after all these, Sri Lanka adamantly refusing to submit to the call for international independent war crimes probe as it was mounting from, UN Human Rights Chief, former UN Human Rights Chief, former UN SG, HRW, and AI. M.I.A may be in disbelieve Sri Lanka pulled wool over the eyes of the world and the Sri Lankan regime, is showing the world it is their way or highway, and so far getting away with the crimes against humanity! She decided to give voice to the voiceless people using her music career, I think, it is so humane thing to do by M.I.A, and NYT reporter should have done more research on the subject before author Lynn Hirschberg published a less-than-flattering portrayal of the artist in its Sunday magazine.

[Birchmount]

04:33 PM on 06/03/2010

You are right Jasones,

Lynn Hirschberg looks to me a sensational writer, nothing more. She should pick on some other celebrity who has no cause but just scandals.

[Germanicus1]

02:51 PM on 06/03/2010

When MIA was on Real Time with Bill Maher, she showed herself as knowing next to nothing about the cause and conflict going on in Sri Lanka. Bill Maher basically had to answer his own questions. This woman is truly a joke.

[Birchmount]

04:25 PM on 06/03/2010

When your kith and kin are slaughterd under blackout conditions, it is hard for anyone to respond Bill Maher's satire.

Bill Maher and others will have Tiger Woods story or the other to munch for weeks. (For some, it is all what is important to know)

[tmorgan1000]

08:09 PM on 06/06/2010

Bill should have invited Janani (Jan) Jananayagam if he wanted a serious discussion. MIA is just an entertainer after all. I'd rate her below Q'orianka Kilcher (represents aboriginal rights) for her efforts but that hardly means she deserves being compared to Paris Hilton as Soundofthunder comments below.

MIA 'represents' for immigrants, Diasporas [but i guess not Jews since they got a homeland and now prefer to make their own super-sized concentration camps for Palestinians] and visible minorities as well as her own Sri Lankan Tamil ethnicity.

I hope people like Lynn learn to recognize the irony in their anti-Palestine position and actions.

I agree with Andrew Sullivan's comments (3 minutes in) about Obama & Israel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-v-_CyDSgE

The 'Sri Lankan option' must be taken of the table off the table but it seems no nation or group is strong enough in terms of character to stand up for global justice, so it's up to individuals to push for such changes. I disagree with right-wingers on almost everything except that Obama was not worthy of the Nobel prize (yet).
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/international_politics/sri+lanka+option/3652687

[tmorgan1000]

09:07 PM on 06/04/2010

I'm not surprised at all that MIA lashed out at Lynn Hirschberg for her misquotes, french fry setup http://neetrecordings.com/blog & failure to research her subject. MIA & the organzation Tamils Against Genocide are using the legal definition of genocide http://www.preventgenocide.org/genocide/officialtext-printerfriendly.htm and when one considers that the United Nations ignored responsibility to protect doctrine and instead the UN Human Rights Council praises Sri Lanka's defeat of Tamil Tigers in a massacre that claimed thousands of Tamil civilians ... one can understand their anger.
http://transcurrents.com/tc/2010/06/mia_may_not_get_her_story_stra.html
http://transcurrents.com/tc/2010/05/the_latest_commission_of_inqui.html

[LeftRightLeftRight]

11:50 AM on 06/03/2010

"Ice Ice Baby

don don don-don-dondondon don

Vanilla Ice Ice Baby

don don don-don-dondondon don

Stop!

Hesitate and listen..."

Another poser...the Vanilla Ice of the new millenia?

Whatever...listened to her music to give it a fair shake...terrible. Her interaction with the NYT reporter is exactly the kind of manufactured publicity she wants to try to get her "music" noticed.

[Eris23]

01:25 PM on 06/03/2010

You think?

[Morgantheaxe]

08:42 AM on 06/03/2010

I clicked on the link because it's been up forever. I dunno who MIA is. From what I'm reading were talking another case of mediocre talent trying to get money by making a spectacle of themselves. Time for this entire story and this artist to both GO AWAY!

[cplKlyde]

09:03 AM on 06/03/2010

We should be so lucky. This terrorist supporting lying hack is engaged to an heir to the Seagram's fortune so expect to hear about her for a long time to come.

[Eris23]

11:31 AM on 06/03/2010

This is too weird. Never before have I seen so many people commenting on an artist they don't know or who they've never heard of. ;)

[Jazz88105]

07:57 AM on 06/03/2010

Really I read the article and I don't think it was condescending at all. What I do think given
M.I.A. gave out Ms. Hirschberg's phone number and now has written a song and is complaining about who ordered fries it is time to GROW UP ! One other thing honey I Know
being a pseudo terrorist is your thing but if you want it to be about the music than you need to just sing and stop worrying about what other people say.

[Kryptonite1]

04:27 AM on 06/03/2010

New York Times got so burrrnnned!
But i don't feel sorry for them.

What was it that Hershy said.... "You'd hope it would go away" And now all her journo lickers are trying desperately to make it go away. And It won't. Cunning, sneaky MORONS.

[thebirdstheword]

08:43 AM on 06/03/2010

pretty sure the only one who is really losing face in all this is m.i.a.

[Kryptonite1]

02:45 PM on 06/03/2010

Nope. She's Got them to crack, although pretty sure they've just tried to make an excuse with more lies. Who cares what you're sure of?

[donanobispace]

08:24 PM on 06/02/2010

She is cool but she is fronting by pretending to be militant in Brentwood with her trust fund husband. She takes herself very seriously but I can't take her seriously when she is a noisy celebrity who says she wants revolution while she lives in a mansion.

[AjaStrandski]

10:19 AM on 06/03/2010

Yeah screw her AND John Lennon too

[donanobispace]

03:26 PM on 06/03/2010

She is nothing like John Lennon. That brother was a bout peace and love. She is about anger and entitlement. She said something to the effect of "Give War A Chance", She needs come down from her mansion and actually do something but of course she is just a singer. Please.

[BigMcLargeHuge]

06:06 PM on 06/02/2010

Not trying to be a smart@ss I swear....but who is this? And what did she do? My google button is broken, help me out please =)

[Feanor]

01:13 PM on 06/03/2010

No your 'google button' is not broken... why did you post this spam?

[Soundofthunder]

05:01 PM on 06/02/2010

She has less talent than Paris Hilton's toy dog. Like listening to a toothache.

S

[tmorgan1000]

09:14 PM on 06/04/2010

Your comment is proof to many of us that HUFFPOST SUPER USER or lots of fans = idiot

... or maybe I'm just as jealous of your status as Lynn was of MIA's :P

I'm not surprised at all that MIA lashed out at Lynn Hirschberg for her misquotes, french fry setup http://neetrecordings.com/blog & failure to research her subject. MIA & the organzation Tamils Against Genocide are using the legal definition of genocide http://www.preventgenocide.org/genocide/officialtext-printerfriendly.htm and when one considers that the United Nations ignored responsibility to protect doctrine and instead the UN Human Rights Council praises Sri Lanka's defeat of Tamil Tigers in a massacre that claimed thousands of Tamil civilians ... one can understand their anger.
http://transcurrents.com/tc/2010/06/mia_may_not_get_her_story_stra.html
http://transcurrents.com/tc/2010/05/the_latest_commission_of_inqui.html

[Spyderbaby]

04:32 PM on 06/02/2010

Better keep lickin' those wounds Maya, it seems to me your still pretty soft. If your going to try to be controversial, you should develope a thicker skin. Baby.

[thebirdstheword]

04:18 PM on 06/02/2010

whether you are pro-m.i.a. or not, you've gotta admit that those lyrics are horrid.

[SpaceLuvr]

04:17 PM on 06/02/2010

I read part of the article, but it was boring. Playing the poor Sri Lankan, but married to a Bronfman now.. lol.. No one really cares MIA... your music sux and you're boring.

[ruffamon]

04:32 PM on 06/02/2010

i've never heard so many people be slanted by a writer (lynn hirschberg) but this happens all the time to the simple-minded sheep...yes MIA may have acted childish in the way she reacted...but if you listen to the whole interview (audio) it appears that hirshberg orchestrated the circumstances she put MIA in...its very likely that because hirschberg is a JEWISH writer, she likely didnt like the fact that MIA mentioned PLO in her songs or maybe she is pissed off that MIA is marrying into one of the richest jewish families on earth (and maybe she wish it were her)....i've found in general jews dont like MIA because of several or more of these things....just look at the comments from NY papers who many of the commentors are jewish....i believe hirshberg set her up for "failure"

[goldbry]

11:38 PM on 06/02/2010

"in general jews" -- this phrase disqualifies you from being taken seriously. Generalizing any group of people is ridiculous.

[thebirdstheword]

08:45 AM on 06/03/2010

who's the sheep, again?