By Alyssa Botts | January 14th, 2011
M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj should both be saluted for bringing in the New Year as two bad ass chicks, but even M.I.A. has me doubting my love for Minaj with her Vicki Leekx mixtape, which can be downloaded (for free!) here. The 36-minutes of pure M.I.A. ingenuity dropped with the ball on New Year’s Eve compliments of production work by Diplo, Blaqstarr, and Switch. The WikiLeaks-inspired mixtape sheds colossal light on the M.I.A. we first knew and madly loved, something that the pandemonium of ///Y/ didn’t bring to the table.
Vicki Leekx is M.I.A.’s first mixtape since Piracy Funds Terrorism, Vol. 1 was released with Diplo in 2004. One thing that I love about M.I.A.’s music is that uncontrollable dance rhythm you couldn’t shake off your skin if your life depended on it, and it genuinely sounds like she has fun making it.
There’s a lot going on in Vicki Leekx, songs ending and beginning with samples and spoken word as the fast-paced and thrilling beats string it all together. Little bits of Kala still find their way onto many of my playlists, and Vicki Leekx follows close behind. ///Y/ almost seems like an accidental hiccup in M.I.A.’s work as a pop artist, a digital cesspool of unfinished ideas and a whole bunch of noise.
M.I.A. isn’t afraid to experiment with sounds, and her unique voice in conjunction with these exhilarating and worldly noises makes Vicki Leekx flat out hypnotic. I think it’s safe to say she’s back, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.