Like its simplistic album title, /\/\ /\ Y /\, heretofore to be referred to as Maya (because it takes a lot of fucking effort to type out the hieroglyphic emblem), opens with the equally simplistic, fifty-seven second “The Message.” Though I usually hate it when artists use intros to start their album since it’s generally just a way to make it look like there are more tracks than there really are, it actually works as a nice transition to track 2 on the record (yes, I say record. Fuck you, digitalism), called “Steppin Up.” This finds us in the familiar electro sound MIA promoted on her debut, Arular. Following that is the second single from the album, “XXXO,” recently remixed by Jay-Z to ensure success.

MIA doesn't just make prophetic music, she wears prophetic t-shirts too

Some listeners have had mixed feelings about the deliberate and generic pop sound of “XXXO,” but doubts about MIA’s musical fearlessness are immediately assuaged by the futuristic beats of “Teqkilla,” a song that sounds like something you might hear if there were jungles in space (and who’s to say there aren’t, really?). After “Teqkilla,” “Story to Be Told” takes us to another far off place, beginning with the jets of a plane taking off and MIA’s voice ethereally echoing, “All I ever wanted was my story to be told.” It is easily one of the best cuts off the album.

Sri Lanka, bitches!

“It Takes a Muscle” changes the entire tone of the album midway through, altering the mood to the tranquil ambience of relaxing on a beach (preferably one in southern Italy). “It Iz What It Iz” continues this sound with a somewhat 80s backing track for the music. However, while musically enjoyable, it gets kind of old to just hear her repeat “It iz what it iz/This is how I feel” without realizing that there’s more to a song than just a chorus.

MIA's album cover: A tongue in cheek homage to YouTube and the 21st century

Next is another single from the album, “Born Free,” already well-known for the video being briefly removed from YouTube due to some graphically violent imagery (but really, is there anything the American public hasn’t seen already?). This is the track that truly ignited the fever for MIA’s album release, a thesis for what was to come–not just musically, but also in terms of MIA’s extremely vocal opinions about life in the twenty-first century, including the assertion that Google and Facebook are implements of the CIA (um, totally agreed).

Portrait of a Lady

“Meds and Feds” is probably the only song with a rock vibe out of all the tracks, contrasted by the succeeding song, “Tell Me Why,” making use of MIA’s actual singing talent as opposed to her knack for harsh shouting. Maya concludes with the airy and tenuous modulations of “Space,” a perfect disunion from how the album began. Because MIA is all about confusing and discombobulating the expected order.

Some people still remember the much beloved number one single from 1963 by sugary sweet teen soloist-cum-lesbian Lesley Gore. Thinking about how classic the song is considered, I wondered if it would fare as well in the music market of 2002, or would it have to be altered to accommodate more modern, and well, more crude tastes? Why 2002? It’s such an arbitrary year–but it’s not. That’s the year I pinpoint the true death of decent mainstream music. If my pop to rap conversion sensibilities are correct, the lyrics would be transformed from this:

It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to/Cry if I want to/Cry if I want to/You would cry too if it happened to you/Nobody knows where my Johnny has gone/Judy left the same time/Why was he holding her hand?/When he’s supposed to be mine/It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to/Cry if I want to, cry if I want to/You would cry too if it happened to you/Playin’ my records, keep dancin’ all night/Leave me alone for a while/’Till Johnny’s dancin’ with me/I’ve got no reason to smile/It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to/Cry if I want to, cry if I want to/You would cry too if it happened to you/Judy and Johnny just walked through the door/Like a queen with her king/Oh what a birthday surprise/Judy’s wearin’ his ring/It’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to/Cry if I want to, cry if I want to/You would cry too if it happened to you.

…to the far more lewd and inappropriate rap version:

It’s my motherfuckin party and I’ll motherfuckin cry if I goddamn want to you stupid bitches/Cry if I fuckin want to/Cry if I fuckin want to/You twat, you would cry too if it fuckin happened to you/Nobody knows where that asshole Johnny has gone/That slut Judy left at the same time/Why was he holding her fuckin fake tanned hand?/When that horny felch loving bastard is supposed to be mine?/It’s my motherfuckin party and I’ll motherfuckin cry if I goddamn want to you stupid bitches/Cry if I fuckin want to/Cry if I fuckin want to/You twat, you would cry too if it fuckin happened to you/Playin’ the shit songs on my iPod, keep scorchin the motherfuckin dancefloor/Leave me the fuck alone for awhile/’Til that diseased dick of Johnny’s is inside of me/I’ve got no goddamn reason to smile/It’s my motherfuckin party and I’ll motherfuckin cry if I goddamn want to you stupid bitches/Cry if I fucking want to/Cry if I fucking want to/You twat, you would cry too if it fucking happened to you/Judy and Johnny just walked through the motherfuckin door/Like a queen bitch and her impotent king/Oh what a fuckin birthday surprise/Judy’s given him a cock ring/It’s my motherfuckin party and I’ll motherfuckin cry if I goddamn want to you stupid bitches/Cry if I fuckin want to/Cry if I fuckin want to/You twat, you would cry too if it fuckin happened to you.

If Lesley Gore’s not too busy, she should remake the song as a statement on how censorship in the sixties wasn’t necessarily an impediment, more like a forced mechanism for creatively wholesome lyricism.