M.I.A. Puts the NY Times on Blast With “Space Odyssey” (Video) Posted by Nathan S. on 01/15/10 | Filed under Features, Videos, M.I.A.

Earlier this week the New York Times named Sri Lanka as its top travel destination of the year, gushing over its "pristine coastline" and "miles of sugary white sand flanked by bamboo groves", which would have been all good if it weren't for the fact that human rights atrocities in the country are continuing after a decades long civil war (oops), a fact Sri Lankan native M.I.A., the intensely creative hip-hop/pop/whatever artist most heads know from "Swagger Like Us", pointed out furiously on her Twitter.

"FUCK NEW YORK TIMES! DO YOU THINK YOU NEED TO GO HERE ON VACATION? http://twitpic.com/xqb4y[warning, graphic image]," she posted, which pretty much explains it all right there.

Not content to merely call out the New York Times on their bullshit, she also quickly recorded a song and video called "Space Odyssey", which she's calling a protest song against the Times.



“The song and video were made Monday night for $100, after the New York Times, as she says: ‘f---ed up so hard,”’ M.I.A.’s publicist said to Fader magazine. “She obviously finds it reckless and ignorant of the paper to not even scratch their own walls on what is reality in Sri Lanka.”

The New York Times has yet to respond to M.I.A.'s charges, but if we're lucky they'll respond and we'll be able to witness the most interesting beef in music history. M.I.A. vs. the New York Times? That's way better than this Benzino vs. Slaughterhouse nonsense.