47-year-old M.I.A. seems to be feeling rather impatient as the arrival of her MATA album nears closer. The project marks the British rapper’s first since 2016’s AIM, according to the artist, she’s going to leak it herself if it hasn’t debuted by September.
On Tuesday (August 30), the “Paper Planes” hitmaker took to her Instagram Story to share some exciting news – she’ll be collaborating with two of the biggest names in rap right now – but M.I.A.’s message to fans wasn’t entirely positive.
M.I.A. performs during the Off-White Fall Winter 2021/2022 runway — Kristy Sparrow/Getty Images
“Coming soon I promise,” she wrote of her long-awaited sixth studio album over a colourful background. “I had to wait two years for a Doja Cat verse… Then a Nicki one… Then a… Nevermind. If MATA isn’t out [in] September I will leak it myself.”
In recent weeks we’ve heard M.I.A. make a return on songs like “Popular” and “The One,” both of which have been generating plenty of buzz for the “Bad Girls” singer.
As Uproxx notes, this isn’t the first time that the Hounslow-born performer has threatened to leak her own music. In the past, she and her record label Interscope have had beef – particularly over her AIM album, which was largely overlooked in the mainstream, partially due to internal legal issues involving the company.
MATA will be M.I.A.’s first release from Island Records under their new partnership. Check out her latest single and accompanying music video here, and tap back in with HNHH later for more hip-hop news updates.
[Via]