the quietners: ps and m.i.a.

without ever having listened to one ps tune, even one melody, or read through a single poem, m.i.a.'s getting herself compared to ps, by no less than the chairman of Interscope, Jimmy Iovine. iovine says he's not concerned that m.i.a. won't make "much impact...on the mainstream" (Ben Sisario, "An Itinerant Refugee in a Hip-Hop World," New York Times 19 Aug. 2007).

he goes on: "the left of center artists...you really wonder about them. can the world catch up? can the culture meet them in the middle?" (sisario).

born in london, raised in sri lanka, traveled everywhere, and like a squeezed sponge, it all comes out in her lyrics, instruments, beat, her duds, dance, and lingo:

unbud for a minute:

synliterate/globalkitch, to the too-much point -- and she's not blonde.

so we're back to the beginning, the first set of questions:

does ps influence female artists after her?

well, yes, clearly, in this case; although neither m.i.a. nor ps may know that the influence is taking place.

john szwed, one of the professors that i studied with when i was in graduate school, might respond to this effect, as he did to so many others: "who can explain it?"

culture'n axshin, there's no 'splayn'n.
but quietn down, now, she needs to make a sound...