MIA returned earlier this year, announcing her long-awaited sixth studio album Mata, which is set to follow up 2016’s AIM. The musician has already unveiled the singles “The One” and “Popular” so far, building up hype for the record. However, today she shared some special but complicated news on her Instagram Story.
“Coming soon I promise,” she wrote over a colorful background with music playing. “I had to wait 2 years for a Doja Cat verse… then a Nicki one… then a…. never mind if Mata isn’t out Sept I will leak it myself.”
M.I.A. teases music with Nicki Minaj and Doja Cat coming soon. pic.twitter.com/F3WQQAoZk4
— Rap Alert (@rapalert6) August 30, 2022
This would not be the first time that MIA threatened to leak her own music. Her relationship with her label Interscope is rarely tame; AIM was largely overlooked when it came to critical attention in the mainstream, and that was partially due to a number of legal and internal issues involving Interscope. Mata, however, will mark the first MIA album released via her new partnership with Island Records, following her long-standing history with Interscope and XL Recordings.
MIA is also known for using social media to provoke. In March of 2020, she wrote on Twitter, “If I have to choose the vaccine or chip I’m gonna choose death,” she wrote. “Yeah in America they made me vacinate my child before the school admission. It was the hardest thing.”