M.I.A. Drops Another Single “Tell Me Why” And A Nicki Minaj Remix

M.I.A. has officially (and perplexingly) released the fifth single off her upcoming album MAYA, the mid-tempo, inspirational track “Tell Me Why.” The Diplo-produced song, which might be the blandest and yet the most commercial of all the new tracks we’ve heard so far, is streaming over at her MySpace Music page, and is for sale at iTunes. But awaiting you behind the jump is the remix of M.I.A.’s “Teqkilla”, featuring—who else?—Nicki Minaj, so check that out first.

M.I.A. feat. Nicki Minaj – “Teqkilla (Remix)”

M.I.A. Ft. Nicki Minaj “Teqkilla” (Remix) by antgriff81

This isn’t so much a remix as just a platform for Nicki to showcase her delirious rap skills and for M.I.A. to gain some hip-hop cred on her new album. Minaj’s staccato rap style works pretty well with Maya’s talk-singing, particularly on this dancehall reggae-inspired track. We just wish M.I.A. would have changed the beat around so we would feel confident actually calling this a “remix.” (Cutting off the last two superfluous minutes wouldn’t have hurt, either.)

With “Tell Me Why,” we’ve heard 5 out of the 12 songs on MAYA (not counting the deluxe edition bonus tracks) and with one more week to go before it drops, we’re betting there’s more tracks to come. From what we’ve heard thus far, our basic feeling of MAYA is that it’s an exciting cocophany of passionate noise. Which isn’t such a bad thing.