I love M.I.A., and I thought she retired. Well, she did. And /\/\ /\ Y /\ (or MAYA) is proof and a half. The entire album is hard to listen to, from excessive riffing distortions to grindy samples of jet takeoffs, it doesn’t sound like real M.I.A., from Kala days. MAYA sounds like a concept album, made intentionally awful to prove a point, a point i’m still not sure of even after hearing that it was supposed to be a message on our over-dependency on technology and social sites. speaking of that, the first track “The Message” goes a little like this…

…Headbone connected to the Headphones
Headphones connected to the iPhone
iPhone connected to the Internet
Connected to the Google
Connected to the Government…

“XXXO” has been burning up my Droid for a few weeks now, and while Jay-Z laid down his bits to make it a Summer Jam, I was expecting another good hit.I found it “TeqKilla”, and there’s a decent remix with emergent Nicki Minaj I like, but I kept looking for something like “Sunshowers,” the 2nd track I ever bought from iTunes, and the first song that made me fall in love with M.I.A. The most set apart track in MAYA could also be its saving grace: “It Takes a Muscle”  is very Bob Marley like, and very much the sweet and sassy pop ballad that makes you wanna get high and hug somebody. Then… there’s “Born Free,” doomed from the start albeit with an INCREDIBLE video featuring the genocide of those pesky gingers an unfortunately pale and oppressed bunch. “Born Free” was the hint that we weren’t going to see a song like “Paper Planes” on this album, and was the start of the incredibly public media backlash with M.I.A. and pretty much anyone else who spoke ill.

Blackbook recently featured an interview with Diplo, the man who essentially tag teamed his way with M.I.A. to the top, and he shed some light on what went so wrong with MAYA…

…I think she’s a really controversial artist and she’s one of the most important people doing music right now, because people expect a lot. And I think that the record was like—she didn’t care about it. I was in the studio with her, she didn’t write anything….

Me and Switch tried our best to be quality control of the record and she didn’t want that. She kind of went on her own way… She’s got a talent in every aspect. She’s got ideas bigger than any artist I’ve ever met and she’s someone to fuckin’ make that happen….

Diplo also went on to explain a bit on why everyone (especially M.I.A.) is so pissed off:

“I am surprised by it. She like, retired because she married a dude and she didn’t care about music. She only did it again because “Paper Planes” did blow up in the end. It gave her a second wind, but she didn’t have any hunger anymore. She already got a full table.”

I love being a hater, but I really wanna love this album.  While MAYA is a good listen, because it sounds like nothing else you’ll ever hear, it just isn’t her. If you can deal with that, cool. Go buy it. In a few years, MAYA will have her MAMA thing downpat (yea, she had a kid!) and come back to the scene and kill everyone with more artfully sampled gunshots.

Awesome track aside… this is what giving your granddad acid would probably look like.

I love Hip-Hop. I’m a white boy, but I know when a beat is fresh or not. When it comes to Mainstream, Jay-Z rules, and Lil Wayne can suck it (no-homo). However, Soulja Boy, T-Pain, Flo-Rida, and even 50-Cent have taken it upon themselves to suck the life out of hip-hop. It’s lifeless, nothing but whips, niggas this, bitches, drugs, liquor, killing folk, nigga that, no-homo’s, killing folks, chains, gold, bling… all wrapped into a hastily drawn beat meant to get people dancing.

WHO THE FUCK DANCES TO HIP HOP LIKE IT’S THE ELECTRIC SLIDE?

American Idiots. Shit, it’s not our fault… We’ve been fed the mainstream soup so much that we don’t know when the recipe changed. I agree, music should evolve, but not for sake of the rhyme.

All is not lost however, you just have to find your hip-hop elsewhere. Where? Get your headphones, and click through the jump, we are going to Europe.

Pato Pooh

Chilean born, and in his mid 20′s, Pato Pooh has been working hard at blowing up the Stockholm Hip-Hop scene. Despite being fluent in Swedish, Pato raps in English without having to cut off the last few letters of a word like we do in America (I suppose it’s hard to find words that rhyme with “gun”). He’s teamed up with his buddy Adam Tensta for one hell of a single, “Follow Me.” The video is dope as hell, and as you’ll see, no guns, no nudity, just 8-bit retro fun.

http://patopooh.com

Adam Tensta

Speaking of Mr. Tensta… He doesn’t disappoint ever, and makes a serious stand to show you can rap without drugs or violence. Once again, Swedish speaking, English rapping. Born Adam Momodou Eriksson Taal, he changed his name to represent the village of Tensta, a projects/slum on the outskirts of Stockholm.  He grew up with out his father (who was a heroin addict,  better off I suppose), but cherishes his mother who worked hard to raise him right. He even put his mom in one of his music videos; what other rapper does that, with respect? Check out “DopeBoy,” which features another hot artist you’ll rarely hear anywhere but packs a serious flow: Eboi

Adam Tensta at JustRhymes

Teki Tek

I love, love, love Teki Latex. He’s not from Sweden, and he doesn’t rap in English (well, not enough to count), but he’s one of the illest French hip-hop artists/producer/DJ’s out there. When Teki Teki “>freestyles, I can’t understand a word he says, but he’s like the Italian born, French rhyming equivalent of Twista, just loads cooler. Cofounder of the indie electronic and Hip-Hop label Institubes, Teki has had his hand in it all. When he’s not being a producer, you can see him rolling with the French Hip-Hop electronic group TTC. Here’s “Travailler,” which is essentially, “I like to work.” French folk. Oh yea, I’d do Teki in a heart beat.

Teki on MySpace

The Crookers always cook up a good beat, and I’m digging the electro dancehall thing that’s been going on lately. Here’s “Put Your Hands On Me” featuring Kardinal Offishall. I hope you like grannys…

Kingdom of the unreal but also a higher state of being, ultimately free of the limitations of the material world through the agency of science, technology, and imagination.

This video is a near perfect idea, executed with perfection. check out www.neurosonicsaudiomedical.com for more info and credits

Follow the Super Viral Brothers on Twitter!

• Artist: Poirier
• Title: Wha-La-La-Leng feat. Face-T
• Album: Soca Sound System
• Label: Ninja Tune
• Director: Thibaut Duverneix
• Producer:  NùFilms – Patrick Chevrier
• Director of Photography: Guillaume Simoneau
• Assistant Photography: Hajra Waheed
• Makeup Artist: Jennifer Dionne
• Performers: Face-T, Ilya, Lunice
• Post Production: Departement

Bonus! Here is the Poirier Remix to Major Lazer’s “Hold the Line.”

Urban Dictionary: Definition of  “Cosby Sweater”

1. The sexual act of eating Fruit Loops, Fruity Pebbles, Trix, and Boo Berry- or any other ‘bright, colorful’ breakfast cereals- and then vomitting the tacky, dazzling mixture onto your partners chest. The result should look similar to the incredible sweaters that Bill Cosby wore during his highly successful 1980′s sitcom “The Cosby Show”.
2. A: A oversized, hideous looking sweater with ugly patterns and colors, often worn by old men or hipsters with no taste.
3. The multi-colored lint left in one’s ass crack after wearing flannel boxer shorts.

I absolutely love this track. I’ve been banging to the B-More version from Kazey and Bulldog, but now its time to give the Wax Motif remix a spin. This one is a little heavier, and definitely bangable.

Give Oh Snap! a peek, peep the video below, and check out hype Machine for remixes

I was turned onto Thunderheist when Brodie  (Huw’s Furry Loverboy) dropped me a few tracks… I love sexy-mess-quasi-ghetto-chic MC/songtresses and Isis is that girl. Isis may be the Thunder, but the Heist is DJ GrahamZilla who steals the ground from under your feet with his sweet electro grooves. Thunderheist’s debut self title drops like right fucking now, so go get it [cd, mp3, vinyl]