Although pop culture and the media are often charged with things like “brainwashing the youth” or providing meaningless entertainment, those mediums can also be very effective in facilitating political and cultural discussion. We see a prime example of this with the very public debate between two Sri Lankan hip-hop artists: MIA and DeLon.
The debate began when DeLon released an “MIA Diss” remake of her popular “Paper Planes” video, claiming that she supports the LTTE (which, as a reminder, has been called one of the deadliest terrorist groups in the world by
FBI). MIA responded that she does not support terrorism but preferred to leave the meaning of the video ambiguous.
MIA was born Maya Arulpragasam in Britain, but moved to Sri Lanka at the age of six months so that her father could “help fight for an independent Tamil homeland,” according to the New York Times. Her family traveled around northern Sri Lanka, fighting for the Tamil cause, until her mother and sisters moved back to London and her father remained in Sri Lanka.
DeLon, on the other hand, is Sinhalese.
The two artists’ personal ties to the conflict have sparked some debate as well. A blog entitled “Brooklyn Vegan” calls DeLon’s “Diss” an “educational video” and credits him with standing for “unity, positivity, and human causes that plague our society.” However, the 77 comments on this blog are anything but unified. It is interesting to see who has commented and what they say, depending on which side they are coming from. Many say that MIA is simply using her pro-LTTE stance to gain the spotlight, dubbing it “terrorist chic.” They cite the Tiger logos used in her videos and on album covers. Others take the other side, enumerating the violations of Tamil rights by the Sinhalese government and saying that DeLon is hiding the real facts, such as the fact that the LTTE government pulled out of a peace agreement in 2007. They also cite DeLon’s desire for fame as a reason for his anti-MIA stance.
For another blogger “DJ Jojo,” MIA represents simply a weirdly catchy, energetic artist. She states that she is bothered by the way that MIA creates a dichotomy between good and evil, but doesn’t know a lot about the conflict. But, MIA is a hit because she is flashy and draws attention to the issues in Sri Lanka.
For these Sri Lankans, the debate between MIA and DeLon is more than artistic, as these bloggers remind us. It is a real struggle with real people and the media can provide a great outlet to educate people and bring awareness to the issue, as we saw when DeLon visited Elon University in November. One student said that she hadn’t known that much about the situation, but the DeLon show made her want to learn more. In this way, the debate can raise awareness and hopefully therefore grassroots advocacy to end the situation.
The debate began when DeLon released an “MIA Diss” remake of her popular “Paper Planes” video, claiming that she supports the LTTE (which, as a reminder, has been called one of the deadliest terrorist groups in the world by
FBI). MIA responded that she does not support terrorism but preferred to leave the meaning of the video ambiguous.MIA was born Maya Arulpragasam in Britain, but moved to Sri Lanka at the age of six months so that her father could “help fight for an independent Tamil homeland,” according to the New York Times. Her family traveled around northern Sri Lanka, fighting for the Tamil cause, until her mother and sisters moved back to London and her father remained in Sri Lanka.
DeLon, on the other hand, is Sinhalese.
The two artists’ personal ties to the conflict have sparked some debate as well. A blog entitled “Brooklyn Vegan” calls DeLon’s “Diss” an “educational video” and credits him with standing for “unity, positivity, and human causes that plague our society.” However, the 77 comments on this blog are anything but unified. It is interesting to see who has commented and what they say, depending on which side they are coming from. Many say that MIA is simply using her pro-LTTE stance to gain the spotlight, dubbing it “terrorist chic.” They cite the Tiger logos used in her videos and on album covers. Others take the other side, enumerating the violations of Tamil rights by the Sinhalese government and saying that DeLon is hiding the real facts, such as the fact that the LTTE government pulled out of a peace agreement in 2007. They also cite DeLon’s desire for fame as a reason for his anti-MIA stance.
For another blogger “DJ Jojo,” MIA represents simply a weirdly catchy, energetic artist. She states that she is bothered by the way that MIA creates a dichotomy between good and evil, but doesn’t know a lot about the conflict. But, MIA is a hit because she is flashy and draws attention to the issues in Sri Lanka.
“That’s part of the brilliance of M.I.A.’s whole persona. Her music, and the visual effects in her shows, and even her voice, are so flashy and noisy and chaotic. But I mean that in the best way possible. She seems to represent our
generation of media-saturated, globalized, de-sensitized minds. And she is somehow able to shout over all the noise.”Taking such a distanced, artistic approach did not float well with some viewers. One angry Sri Lankan said,
“May be for you MIA represents your generation of media-saturated, globalized,
de-sensitized minds. For us, she represents the killers who brutally killed my
neighbour, a mother of two who had nothing to do with politics. She was
returning from work, and was killed when the Tiger killers started shooting down
the civilians after missing their main target (a politician).”
For these Sri Lankans, the debate between MIA and DeLon is more than artistic, as these bloggers remind us. It is a real struggle with real people and the media can provide a great outlet to educate people and bring awareness to the issue, as we saw when DeLon visited Elon University in November. One student said that she hadn’t known that much about the situation, but the DeLon show made her want to learn more. In this way, the debate can raise awareness and hopefully therefore grassroots advocacy to end the situation.
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