Kala

2007, Aug 21

M.I.A.

Apple Spotify UK Hip Hop Experimental Hip Hop 99 Highly Rated XL Recordings Pitchfork 8.9/10 A.V. Club A The Line of Best Fit 7/10 NME 4/5 Evening Standard 4/5 Rolling Stone 4.5/5 The Independent 4/5 All Music 5/5 Gigwise 8/10 Under The Radar 8.0/10 Mojo 4/5 The Observer 4/5 Slant 3.5/5 Pop Matters 9/10 The Guardian 4/5 music OMH 4.5/5 Uncut 8/10 Hot Press 8.0/10 RapReviews.com 9.0/10

A.V. Club A The A.V. Club digs deep into film, TV, music, games, books and more.

The Line of Best Fit 7/10 Maya Arulpragasam, better known by her stage name M.I.A., has unleashed her sophomore effort Kala; more ambitious, more melodic and meatier than her debut album Arular.

Rolling Stone 4.5/5 Check out our album review of Artist's Kala on Rolling Stone.com.

Gigwise 8/10 Whereas MIA's Mercury Nominated debut 'Arular 'was heavily based on Brazilian Baile Funk and a product of her split Sri Lankan and London roots, 'Kala' extends in scope to leave few corners of the world untouched.

The Observer 4/5 Ms Arulpragasam's expanded horizons more than make up for her vocal shortcomings, writes Emma Warren

Slant 3.5/5 Kala seems aware of the potential of pop and hip-hop to empower those who have been denied a voice.

Pop Matters 9/10 Our Maya Arulpragasam's all grown up. The British/Sri Lankan singer, better known as M

The Guardian 4/5 (XL)

Uncut 8/10 Sri Lanka-born rapper fires off a devastating global beat barrage

Hot Press 8.0/10 Kala is an intoxicating junk-culture travelogue, a genre-humping mash-up of Bollywood rumbles, shrieking guitars and machine-gun rhymes.