August 14, 2010

"XXXO"

Being not perhaps as ironic (or creepy) as this, I have to do a post about my latest guilty pleasure. If you're like I am, you might have had some vague notion of the English performer M.I.A. as being perennially in sunglasses and performing while heavily pregnant at the 2009 Grammy Awards. Either that, or you may have heard of her recent public tussle with a reporter from the New York Times Magazine.

It doesn't matter. Check out this video. It has a tacky, Lisa Frank/"trick out my page" aesthetic going on. According to this source, the "video is made to look like the online gifs and animations that are popular on Arabic language Internet forums, blogs, and social websites." I find the Arabic twist strangely appealing. It makes me want to put a mosque where the World Trade Center once stood even. Kidding. The song is also pretty cool, with a hypnotic counter-melody going on during the "You want me be somebody who I'm really not" chorus.


You want me be somebody who I'm really not
You want me be somebody who I'm really not
You want me be somebody who I'm really not....

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

OMG! I used to see this type of videos while I lived in Guad, they were so funny and very colorful, Ari loved watching them. Ex is a hug middle eastern music fan so he would download them. I just liked the eye candy appeal of the crazy graffics. Babies do groove to them-if they don't freak out and start crying ;).

Chris said...

I didn't realize it was genre. The Arab stuff is weird, but like I said, sort of interesting.

Dot said...

Love the video, hate the song.

Chris said...

I can understand that, Dot. It's love/hate for me. The lyrics are pretty awful, yet I find "'Cause you're tweetin' me like Tweety Bird on your iPhone" terrible, yet appealing. It may just be her British accent.

Amy said...

It's a terrible song but entertaining graphics. I read that article in the NYT and I don't get her (but didn't try to either). She's gorgeous though - and what man cares about quality of lyrics when her lips are mouthing "sex sex sex O."

Chris said...

That's the appeal, exactly, Amy! And I thought she was saying "X" the whole time...