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MIA - 'Jimmy'

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Fraser McAlpine | 09:46 UK time, Wednesday, 26 September 2007

MIATwo rules to consider before attempting a cover:
1. Pick something interesting for the love of God and
2. Add something to the original.
Essentially, if it’s been sung in an X-Factor audition, you’ll probably want to avoid it, unless you know that your baile-funk version of 'Angels' has what it takes to reignite the fire in the belly of the music industry.

With 'Jimmy', Sri-Lankan/Hounslow madam MIA can be pretty confident that she’s passed the first test, by choosing 1982 Bollywood disco sensation 'Jimmy Jimmy Aaja', a song that as a young whipper snapper she used to perform for her parents’ friends at parties - "My mum used to hire me out when I was a kid as a party buffer. It was my track that I used to do my routine to. I had a little tape recorder, and a cloak and a cardboard cut out guitar, and that was my joint."

But does she pass the second test? Well, I’ve , and it definitely doesn’t reference a genocide tour in Rwanda and Darfur, so I reckon she’s on safe ground there. In fact, if you scour the Top 40 for any lyrical equivalent, beyond attempts to translate Girls Aloud’s 'Sexy No No No' as a cry for female empowerment, you’ll be hard pressed to find any commercially successful female artists who are doing what MIA is doing right now.

Rockin third-world references to screaming disco strings and astro-bleeps and looking like a demi- goddess, the only disappointment is the absence of the cloak and cardboard cut out guitar in the video. Guess you can’t have everything.

Five starsDownload: Out now
CD Released:
October 1st

(Nickie Latham)

Comments

  1. At 03:21 PM on 26 Sep 2007, Lisa wrote:

    This song is absolutelydutely fantastic :)

  2. At 03:46 PM on 26 Sep 2007, Amy wrote:

    Yes, deffiantly do not copy an Xfactor song! My Chemical Romance's versions of, 'All I want for Christmas' and the 'waahoo' song by Blur are amazingly good, and I love it when Amy Winhouse does versions of song, e'g 'Valerie'.

  3. At 06:55 AM on 27 Sep 2007, wrote:

    I got my hands on MIA album last week and it is simply fantastic!!! Jimmy is her second single (first being Boyz) and this track is definitely a single material. The whole album is basically focused on Indian music and Jimmy is the first taste that you gonna get on the album. My review on the album can be found on my Friendster.

  4. At 12:08 PM on 28 Sep 2007, stacey wrote:

    this is wicked as is the album but the first one is better if you like this check out arular

  5. At 06:39 PM on 28 Sep 2007, wrote:

    Hi am elvis from nigeria .
    ive been seeking for your contact for a long time ,pls iwill like to get ur contact . and i want u to be my friend.

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