Latest M.I.A. Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• In my head I actually think my songs are pop songs. I think, Damn, that's a pop song! I can practice in front of the mirror with my hairbrush for as long as I want to. But when it finally comes out, it sounds avant-garde to people. Right up until then, though, I think, "Of course everybody feels this way. This song's the same as the Greek national anthem."

  M.I.A.

  Song, Thinking, Long

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• Somebody told me that if you wake up every day and do stuff that's easy, then you're doing the wrong thing. If you wake up every day and do stuff that's really hard and you manage to get through to people, then you're doing the right thing. They might have just fooled me by telling me that, but it worked. I think that's my philosophy.

  M.I.A.

  Philosophy, Thinking, People

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• It's the only thing to do when you're in London - hang out in a taxi.

  M.I.A.

  Taxi, Hanging Out

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I'd be very controversial if I said why, and I don't do controversial anymore. That's too passé. So last year. Being controversial is boring now.

  M.I.A.

  Boring, Controversial

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• People say we're similar with Lady Gaga, that we both mix all these things in the pot and spit them out differently, but she spits it out exactly the same! None of her music's reflective of how weird she wants to be or thinks she is. She models herself on Grace Jones and Madonna, but the music sounds like 20-year-old Ibiza music, you know? She's not progressive, but she's a good mimic.

  M.I.A.

  Thinking, People, Grace

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• I find the new Justin Bieber video more violent and more of an assault to my eyes and senses than what I've made.

  M.I.A.

  Eye, Violent

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

• The mentality has taken over because of the way we've promoted things. It's been accepted, to live with fear, and to fear that it's going to be terrible, prepare for the worst. The meat and potato of our existence right now is influenced by what happened after 9/11 - we put our thinking into protecting borders.

  M.I.A.

  Taken, Thinking, Accepted

  Source: thequietus.com

• Instead of going to war, we should put the money into arts and culture and let creative people define what Britain is.

  M.I.A.

  Art, War, People

  Source: thequietus.com

• When mayors get together they probably have better conversations and have better notes to share about running different cities, and just do what suits. Basically, like when you combine all the religions and take the best bits, you should be able to combine all the cities and take the best bits, the information, the tried and tested things.

  M.I.A.

  Running, Together, Different

  Source: thequietus.com

• I wanted to represent a different decade, and I wanted someone who goes back further than me. I go back the furthest on this thing, I never really noticed that before. I'm going to have to fix that or I'm going to look really old.

  M.I.A.

  Different

  Source: thequietus.com

• I feel like I can't really have a comment.

  M.I.A.

  Feels, Comment, I Can

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• If it's just politics that's running music, f - k that. I'm out of here! I can't think of anything more boring.

  M.I.A.

  Running, Thinking, Boring

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• If music's a political place, I'm out.

  M.I.A.

  Political, Ifs

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• Whoever's inside is inside; whoever's out is out.

  M.I.A.

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• Predominantly in the West, if you can only have creative voices that are either black or white, I'm going to say whatever the f - k I want, because no one's going before you, and if no one's coming after you, I'm just going to be the freakiest of all freaks!

  M.I.A.

  Voice, White, Creative

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• If right now, culture's so divisive, it just leaves these millions of people like me out.

  M.I.A.

  People, Culture, Like Me

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• I don't have a community like a black community to belong to [with] a musical platform that's been built for years and years and years, or the film-making culture, and I don't have the white one to belong to.

  M.I.A.

  Years, White, Community

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• Everything I think seems to be controversial, so I feel like I need to just go away for a second and put it all down on paper until the storm passes.

  M.I.A.

  Thinking, Going Away, Storm

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• I think I have to expand my creativity a bit, because it's difficult for critics to be, "Oh, this person writes their own lyrics and sometimes writes their own beats and sometimes makes her own videos." They funnel me through, "Oh, is it as good as blah-blah's record, which has had 50 million writers on it?"

  M.I.A.

  Writing, Creativity, Thinking

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• You need everyone to get together and just believe in it, and lead by example that it is possible to be outside the system, and that's really super-f - king hard, and I'm sure there's some geniuses out there who can achieve it.

  M.I.A.

  Kings, Believe, Together

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• The music industry is so tied up politically. They're afraid they might let other voices in.

  M.I.A.

  Voice, Might, Music Industry

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• You have to have your fashion stylist person not sell out and sell your s - t to another pop star because they can pay them twice as much, and do it for the belief and the love of art.

  M.I.A.

  Fashion, Art, Stars

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• Creativity needs time to harness before it goes out, and because that's difficult, memes have become the creative language.

  M.I.A.

  Creativity, Creative, Needs

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• We know that those huge U.S. brands do have political sway.

  M.I.A.

  Political, Brands, Knows

  Source: www.macleans.ca

• I come from a generation where you put the art out and had the luxury to sit back and watch the world deconstruct it, and that was valued. Unfortunately now the work lives in a weird context.

  M.I.A.

  Art, Luxury, Watches

  Source: www.macleans.ca