M.I.A. predicted the future of music and the internet on ΛΛ Λ Y Λ. I have to admit that my initial reaction mimicked those of the critics in 2010. I was craving more genre-bending, worldly hits of her first two albums. I did not get that on ΛΛ Λ Y Λ. I could tell I wouldn’t get that when she starts her first track, STEPPIN UP, by revving up a chainsaw and never turning it off.

M.I.A. didn’t care about what her audience wanted. She litters the tracks on ΛΛ Λ Y Λ with abrasive sounds that, against all odds, cohere. These sounds aren’t just a gimmick (okay, the chainsaws are but I like the occasional gimmick), they compliment the songs without compromising quality and her genre-hopping ways. XXXO is a catchy and infectious piece of synth pop, BORN FREE is upbeat, empowering rock, and TEQKILLA makes me really happy. However, these songs and more are filled with distortions and obscure noise that, together, bind the entire album.

What I love most is that the noise isn’t there to just scare away fans, they served as a prognosis of the internet. The noisy production embodied the weirdness that accompanied the exploding growth of the internet. The off-putting sounds distract you from the tracks like the internet distracted us from the dangers of the digital era. Her lyrics make her skepticism with the internet clear. THE MESSAGE eerily predicts Elon’s Neuralink. She fears an increasingly connected world and the consequences of suddenly losing that connection on SPACE. Digital Loneliness? IT TAKES A MUSCLE figured that out. What about the growing value of data? “You better have a load of cheddar if you ain’t got the data,” she says on TELL ME WHY.

“M.I.A., you know who I am, ” she says repeatedly on STEPPIN UP. Like the audience in 2010, I didn’t really, and it took me a couple of listens to finally figure her out. M.I.A. transcended any idea you had of her, and set the stage for the noisy, digital era to come.