Well, since no one wants to do any actual damn reporting on this song let me make a few comments. (1) MIA sucks, (2) The Bid Flu song was actually created and popularized by two Jamaican DJs who live in Canada, (3) The reason they made the song was based off of the popularity of The Bird Flu Dance which had become a huge hit dance in Africa. MIA is capitalizing not only on some ******** horrible disease and epidemic without putting any worthwhile social consciousness into her lyrics but just down right stole this idea in the first place. And stealing bad ideas is the least of the reasons why MIA sucks but it doesn't help. If you actually want to read about the history of this song (despite the obvious differences in delivery) I would recommend these posts: http://thatswherebatslive.blogspot.com/2006/06/i-say-h5-you-say-n1.htmlhttp://thatswherebatslive.blogspot.com/2006/06/fetishized-gun-violence-web-portal-is.html

making a song about the same subject doesnt constitute stealing.also, "mia sucks" is some first class reporting.

p.s. Justin: What does a Golf Clap infer? And should I not swear in the comments section? It seems you guys are editing curse words and I would rather save you time and not use them if that is what is best for the site. And I love Prefix and my aim in my original post was not to take a shot at you or anyone personally for not reporting on something maybe I only find to be of a bit greater significance but rather just to push the story deeper and make people think.

personally, i find the connection between the two songs to be vague. while im sure she's aware of the song given her ties to dancehall, i find her intent to be totally different. i also dont consider her to be lacking in social consciousness. while many of her lyrics may be catchy or poppy, they have a subtext to them. and if she was doing this merely to capitalize, her entire album would be filled with potshots at bush and opinions on the middle east (which are there, but are hardly the central focus).and she must be doing something right if the u.s. denied her a visa to enter the country.

I agree with a lot of what you said, Adrian. While I don't find MIA to by interesting or good music and I think she, like so many others, is a walking contradiction you are right, if the U.S. denies your Visa in order to enter this country you must be doing something right. But, then again, the city of Boston was shut down for a day because of Aqua Teen Hunger Force advertising so I don't know. We can agree to disagree on MIA but I think we are finding some common ground on what I brought up. I still do think it is sad that a song like this (and the previous) one is out there and turned into consumable pop music that the majority of people won't think twice about. After all, no matter whether you like the song or not the subject matter is not really funny. I think the dance was a way to cope with reality but I think both Bird Flu songs are pretty egregious attempts to just make a buck on a trend. Maybe that is not her intent, who ever knows what her intent is with anything, but unfortunately I think it will just turn out that way. Sadly, indie rockers are sometimes just as dumb and susceptible as mainstream music consumers.

So I am by no means a connoisseur of music. I have very little knowledge in terms of the history of tracks and as such about what has been done before. I do know, however, that I really like M.I.A. Yes, I understand and can identify with her opinions because I am Sri Lankan as well. But on a base level, I enjoy the music itself. Yet, it is understandable how people who have not been exposed to South Indian music would not find it pleasing. M.I.A's music is heavily influenced by the rhythms and melodies of South Asian music. In the relatively young field of music psychology, it is understood that Western music structures and Eastern music structures differ greatly. A Western idea of pleasing music is greatly different than an Eastern idea; and this is reflected in differences in the tonal structure of each type. When brought up in Western society with little exposure to Eastern music, our perceptual systems can not anticipate these differences as we usually anticipate the structure of a typical Western song and as such our systems do not react positively. Anyway, point being that stating that "M.I.A. sucks" is ridiculous. A more accurate statement would be "I don't enjoy M.I.A.'s music" because there are many out there who do. Addressing her intent, M.I.A. has specifically stated in interviews that her music is danceable, poppy with a more thoughtful subtext on purpose. And this is what makes it unique, innovative. Though the songs are easily dance/club tracks, there are many underlying meanings held in the lyrics. Much of this subtext is also not capitalizing on random events, but is influenced by her own upbringing and lifestyle as the child of a man heavily involved with the Tamil Rebel movement. Her political opinions stem out of those events that directly touched her life.That is all.