M.I.A.

M.I.A.

M.I.A. took Michael Jackson’s death badly, because his music was all she had access to growing up in Sri Lanka.

The Paper Planes hitmaker reveals she was raised on just the King of Pop's hits until her family moved to the U.K. in her early teens.

M.I.A. tells FemaleFirst; "He's the only music that we had in Sri Lanka in terms of Western music. For my generation, anyway. The only tapes that made it to Sri Lanka were Michael Jackson. That was it. That was all we had. The whole village listened to Michael Jackson, they made bootleg tapes, tape to tape, for each other, and that's kinda all we had."

The singing star also say motherhood will enhance, not hinder M.I.A.'s music career, because she works better when she's busy and under pressure but she insists she procrastinated and struggled to concentrate when she had a clear schedule.

Since giving birth to baby son Ikhyd back in February, M.I.A. has had to juggle music with her role as a full-time mother - and she has flourished; "In order to make music, I kind of have to feel some sort of hardship. I've always found it easier to create when you're just sort of left on your own to deal with your own s**t and your own mess and your own whatever. And I think having a baby makes me a lot more focused in terms of time.

"Before, if I had a year to make music, then I know that I have to do it this time in a shorter space of time. And if I got to spend 24 hours in the studio last time and sleep in it and be in it and eat in it and whatever, now I know that that's not possible because I have to have my baby down there."

FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison

Tagged in