Kala
by M.I.A.
The 570th greatest album of all time
Kala is M.I.A.'s 2007 album that fuses hip hop, dancehall, electronic, electropop, and grime into a dense, global pop sound. It pairs propulsive rhythms, clipped samples, and unconventional percussion with M.I.A.'s distinctive vocal delivery that shifts between chant, rap, and melody, and often favors a lo-fi, collage-like production. Lyrically the record touches on migration, identity, and global commerce, and it includes the track "Paper Planes".
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