Watch M.I.A.’s New ‘Matahdatah’ Short Film With Crazy New Song “Swords”
M.I.A. has unveiled her new short film with the unwieldy title Matahdatah Scroll 01: “Broader Than A Border.” The multimedia project, which she’s been teasing for the past few weeks, is essentially two consecutive music videos for new song “Swords” and Matangi track “Warriors.” [UPDATE: And it’s the first video from her new visual album Matahdata.]
The first half is “Swords,” which has an intricate beat that contains actual sword sound effects. M.I.A. describes it pretty accurately:
https://twitter.com/MIAuniverse/status/620632064992378880
That part of the visual was filmed in India, and the song was produced by M.I.A. and Spanker.
The “Warriors” half takes place in Africa and features an impressive local dancer, and in all likelihood is the Africa-based clip that she originally said her label was refusing to release due to vague cultural appropriation concerns.
The whole thing was directed by M.I.A. and premiered on Apple Music today (July 13). Watch the remarkable swordplay and dancing below.
