M.I.A. heads to Indian temple, Ivory Coast for video

New York (AFP) - The hip-hop star M.I.A. has gone to an Indian temple and the Ivory Coast to direct her first videos, as she announced a new album on the theme of a world without borders.

The outspoken artist on Monday released a video of two songs including the new track "Swords," which begins with the clanking of swords before M.I.A.'s signature heavy beats kick in.

The video shows a spirited dance among girls wielding swords and sticks, as well as a performer who smashes plantains lodged under the chin of a supine woman.

"Swords" is full of Hindu imagery including temple scenes and aflame Sanskrit script for the holy mantra "Om."

M.I.A., who was born in London to Sri Lankan Tamil parents, did not specify where in India she filmed but the video shows riverside ghats reminiscent of the sacred city of Varanasi.

The song also references the high-tech southern city of Bangalore, as M.I.A. raps, "Highly explosive, ready and raw / Everything banging like we're in Bangalore."

The video, released on the new Apple Music streaming site, transitions to Ivory Coast where a man in a shiny golden outfit and red tutu dances at fast pace to "Warriors," a song from M.I.A.'s last album "Matangi" that came out in 2013.

M.I.A. said she discovered the Ivorian dancer on YouTube and tracked him down in the West African country.

"He is a spiritual warrior and communicates through dancing. It's a lifelong commitment for him to be the designated spiritual body that channels that dance," M.I.A. said in a statement.

M.I.A. said she had held off on releasing the video for "Warriors," which was the first she directed, as the experience inspired her to "make a whole series of songs and videos on the concept of borders."

"There's 10 more of these countries coming and I haven't chased where to go yet, so who knows where this project will take me," she said.

M.I.A. said that "broader than a border" -- written at the start of the video -- would be the concept of her next album. The album will be entitled "Matahdatah" but she did not specify the release date.

In May, M.I.A. said that unspecified forces had stopped her from releasing a video with a dancer from Ivory Coast -- presumably the one in "Warriors" -- due to concerns over "cultural appropriation."

M.I.A. -- whose father was a Tamil Tiger activist -- won critical acclaim for her 2005 debut album "Arular," which brought a punk edge, reggaeton and developing-world politics to dance music.