Uwishunu.com

Review by Jason Abrams

Growing up wasn’t all fun and dance for the 30 year old trendsetter/singer known as M.I.A..She was born in South London to militant/activist’s parents. As a youngster, her family was moving around India trying to avoid civil wars and poverty stricken conditions.

Eventually moving back to South London young Maya was being influenced by the pioneers of rap music: Public Enemy, N.W.A., Roxanne Shante etc. through the radio.

In path that is dominated by males, M.I.A. is a one of a kind with no female contemporaries. Madonna might have combined fashion with awareness later in her career; M.I.A. came straight out the gates with the attitude of Chuck D and the chic of Gwen Stefani.

As the crowd was shuffling into the dark rock confines of the Electric Factory the vibe was more like that of their neighbors, Transit or Shampoo. In an odd move the DJ’s set was reminiscent of an old warehouse rave but was sandwiched with two of the headliners tracks. This was followed by a performance of Philly’s own Santogold and Female rapper Amanda Blank. The hometown crowd was hooked from the beginning of the set of R&B infused techno brake beats, synth happy melodies. The songs are built on pro-fem fueled themes accompanied by great interaction. Business really peaked during a guest spot from Spankrock, the Luther Campbell of 2007…

More after the jump!

The Cool Kids then stormed the stage for a short set of old school influenced Hip Hop that you rarely hear anymore. The two Hip Hop heads claimed to be “The Black Beastie Boys” dressed in high tops, Polo shirts, wide brim baseball caps and the oddest pair of baggy/skinny jeans you’ve ever seen.

At 11 a video of an Asian man declared that “We the minority have no choice but to overthrow the government”. M.I.A donned the stage in a: gold, silver, red and blue sequence body-suit, stone washed daisy dukes, mini short sleeved jacket, red military hat and intricate silver eye makeup. She looked fantastic in an outfit that no one else on the globe could even attempt to pull off. The music started with the “Bamboo Magna” from her sophomore CD Kala that came out on Interscope Records earlier this year.

The MC/singer was a ball of energy on stage the whole time during a show that featured “World Town”, “Galang”, “Sunshowers”, “20 Dollar Bill” and the hit “Jimmy”. M.I.A. and two female MC/singers also dance nonstop along accompanied by neon videos providing an attractive stage presence for the sold out crowd. At one point in the evening she invites the ladies onstage to boogie (I noticed my homegirl Christina up their getting down). She does a wonderful job bouncing between both records and keeps the crowd hype and engaged at all times. The show comes to an end when she invited her crew onstage for “Paper Planes” prior to the encore.

Due to some recent visa issues this will be her last appearance in the states for some time. M.I.A. partied down with her extended Philly family at an after party hosted by Consideritdan.com in association with uwishunu.com at Transit Nightclub. M.I.A. DJ/Local guy, DJ Low B (Formerly DJ Low Budget) spun for the fans and the “Queen of the Scenesters” herself joined in on the action.

MIA
http://www.myspace.com/mia