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''Arular'' is the debut
studio album by British recording artist
M.I.A. It was released on 22 March 2005 in the United States, and one month later in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, with a slightly different track listing. In 2004, the album's release was preceded by two
singles and a
mixtape. M.I.A. wrote or co-wrote all the songs on the album, while collaborators included
Justine Frischmann
Justine Elinor Frischmann (born 16 September 1969) is an English artist and retired musician. She was the lead singer of the Britpop band Elastica after forming Suede, before retiring from the music industry and pursuing a career as a painter ...
,
Switch
In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...
,
Diplo,
Richard X
Richard Philips, better known by his stage name Richard X, is a British songwriter and music producer. Gaining attention as a pioneer of the bootleg craze, Richard X has earned success as a producer and remixer. He has helmed hit singles for arti ...
,
Ant Whiting
Anthony Whiting better known as Ant Whiting is a British songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer signed to Sony/ATV Music Publishing. He has worked as a producer and songwriter with artists such as John Newman and Rizzle Kicks.
Biograp ...
and Greg "Wizard" Fleming.
The album's title is the political code name used by her father,
Arul Pragasam, during his involvement with
Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups
Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups rose to prominence in the 1970s to fight the state of Sri Lanka in order to create an independent Tamil Eelam in the north of Sri Lanka. They rose in response to the perception among minority Sri Lankan Tamils th ...
, and themes of conflict and revolution feature heavily in the lyrics and artwork. Musically, the album incorporates styles that range from
hip hop and
electroclash
Electroclash (also known as synthcore, retro-electro, tech-pop, nouveau disco, and the new new wave) is a genre of music that fuses 1980s electro, new wave and synth-pop with 1990s techno, retro-style electropop and electronic dance music. It ...
to
dancehall,
baile funk, and
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
. M.I.A. created the basic backing tracks using a
Roland MC-505
The Roland MC-505 is a groovebox conceived in 1998 as a combination of a MIDI controller, a music sequencer, a drum machine, and a desktop synthesizer with many synthesis features: arpeggiator, oscillators, and voltage-controlled filter, contro ...
sequencer/
drum machine given to her by long-time friend Frischmann.
''Arular'' was lauded by critics for its blending of styles and integration of political lyrics into
dance tunes. It was nominated for the
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...
in 2005 and was included in the 2005 edition of the book ''
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...
''. Although it only reached number 98 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
and number 190 on the US
''Billboard'' 200, several publications named it as one of the best albums of the year. By mid-2007, the album had sold 129,000 copies in the US, ''Arular'' spawned the singles "
Sunshowers", "
Bucky Done Gun" and "
Galang", which was released twice.
Composition and recording
In 2001, M.I.A. (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam) had worked exclusively in the visual arts. While filming a documentary on
Elastica
Elastica were an English rock band formed in London in 1992 by ex- Suede members Justine Frischmann and Justin Welch. The band was stylistically influenced by punk rock, post-punk and new wave music. The band's members changed several times ...
's 2001 tour of the US, she was introduced to the
Roland MC-505
The Roland MC-505 is a groovebox conceived in 1998 as a combination of a MIDI controller, a music sequencer, a drum machine, and a desktop synthesizer with many synthesis features: arpeggiator, oscillators, and voltage-controlled filter, contro ...
sequencer/
drum machine by
electroclash
Electroclash (also known as synthcore, retro-electro, tech-pop, nouveau disco, and the new new wave) is a genre of music that fuses 1980s electro, new wave and synth-pop with 1990s techno, retro-style electropop and electronic dance music. It ...
artist
Peaches
The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fu ...
, whose minimalistic approach to music inspired her. She found Peaches' decision to perform without additional instrumentation to be brave and liberating and felt that it emphasised the artist.
Returning to London, she unexpectedly gained access to a 505 owned by her friend, former Elastica singer
Justine Frischmann
Justine Elinor Frischmann (born 16 September 1969) is an English artist and retired musician. She was the lead singer of the Britpop band Elastica after forming Suede, before retiring from the music industry and pursuing a career as a painter ...
. M.I.A. used the 505 to make
demo recordings in her bedroom.
She initially planned to work as a producer. To this end, she approached
Caribbean girls in clubs to see if they would provide vocals for the songs, but without success.
M.I.A. secured a record deal with
XL Recordings
XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group.
Although only releasing an average of six albu ...
after Frischmann's manager overheard the demo.
M.I.A. began work on the album by composing lyrics and melodies, and she programmed
drum beat
A drum beat or drum pattern is a rhythmic pattern, or repeated rhythm establishing the meter and groove through the pulse and subdivision, played on drum kits and other percussion instruments. As such a "beat" consists of multiple drum strokes ...
s at home on the drum machine.
Having produced rough tracks via trial and error, she honed the finished songs in collaboration with other writer-producers.
Through these collaborations, she sought to produce a diverse style and "drag
er collaboratorsout of their boxes, musically".
DJ
Diplo introduced elements of Brazilian
baile funk to "
Bucky Done Gun". Fellow composer-producer
Richard X
Richard Philips, better known by his stage name Richard X, is a British songwriter and music producer. Gaining attention as a pioneer of the bootleg craze, Richard X has earned success as a producer and remixer. He has helmed hit singles for arti ...
worked on the track "Hombre", which featured a drum pattern created from the sounds made by toys that M.I.A. had bought in India, augmented with sounds produced by objects such as pens and mobile phones.
Steve Mackey
Stephen Patrick Mackey (born 10 November 1966) is an English musician and record producer best known as the bass guitarist for the alternative rock band Pulp, which he joined in 1989. As a record producer, he has produced songs and albums by ...
and
Ross Orton
Ross Orton is a musician/songwriter/ producer based in Sheffield, England. Orton is known for his work as drummer in Add N to (X) and as part of electro trio Fat Truckers, and since that band's split in 2004 has formed the Cavemen songwriting/prod ...
, known professionally as Cavemen, worked on "
Galang", which M.I.A. had initially produced with her 505 and a basic four-track tape recorder. Working with Cavemen in a professional studio, she added a bass line and new vocals to give the song "a more analogue sound" than was possible with the 505.
The track was co-written by Frischmann, whose input M.I.A. described as "refreshing".
She initially hoped to feature guest vocalists on the album, but was unable due to budget constraints and other artists' unfamiliarity with her work. She chose to perform all the vocals herself, saying, "I just quietly got on with it ... I didn't wanna convince anyone it was good. I felt it was much better to prove that I could be an individual."
Music and lyrics
''Arular'' takes its title from the political code name employed by M.I.A.'s father,
Arul Pragasam; she contends that her father's "revolutionary ideals" are the album's thematic base.
"In Sri Lankan, ''arular'' means 'enlightenment from the sunshine' or something", she remarked, "but a friend pointed out that it was a pun in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
– 'a ruler' – which is funny because he is a politician. And my mum always used to say about my father, 'He was so useless, all he ever gave you was his name'. So I turned it around and turned that something into nothing. And at the same time I thought it would be a good way to find him. If he really was an
egomania
Egomania is a psychiatric term used to describe excessive preoccupation with one's ego, identity or selfdictionary.com and applies the same preoccupation to anyone who follows one’s own ungoverned impulses, is possessed by delusions of personal ...
c, he'd be
looking himself up and he'd get this pop album stealing his name that would turn out to be me, and he'd have to get in touch", a prediction which ultimately came true. Despite reports to the contrary, M.I.A. denied that her father was a member of the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
, popularly known as the Tamil Tigers.
The album is influenced by music that M.I.A. listened to as a child in London, including
hip hop,
dancehall, and
punk rock. She cited as particular influences
Eric B. & Rakim,
Public Enemy
"Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...
, and
London Posse
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...
, whom she described as "the best of
British hip hop
British hip hop, also known as UK hip hop or UK rap, is a genre of music, and a culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music made in the United Kingdom. It is generally classified as one of a number of styles of R&B/Hip-Hop. Britis ...
". Her work on the album drew on the punk music of
The Clash
The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...
and music from genres such as
Britpop
Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...
and
electroclash
Electroclash (also known as synthcore, retro-electro, tech-pop, nouveau disco, and the new new wave) is a genre of music that fuses 1980s electro, new wave and synth-pop with 1990s techno, retro-style electropop and electronic dance music. It ...
, to which she was exposed during her time studying at
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of sho ...
.
Living in West London, she met many musicians who to her defined an era of British music that was "actually credible".
In a 2008 interview, she elaborated on the importance of the west London
punk scene
The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of ideologies, fashion, and other forms of expression, visual art, dance, literature, and film. Largely characterised by anti-establishment views, the promotion of individual freedom ...
, citing acts such as
The Slits
The Slits were a punk and post-punk band based in London, formed there in 1976 by members of the groups the Flowers of Romance and the Castrators. The group's early line-up consisted of Ari Up (Ariane Forster) and Palmolive (a.k.a. Paloma R ...
, The Clash, and
Don Letts; she claimed that
Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow are an English new wave band, created by manager Malcolm McLaren in 1980. McLaren recruited members of Adam and the Ants to form the band behind 13-year-old Annabella Lwin on vocals. They released their debut EP '' Your Cassette ...
and
Malcolm McLaren had a similar cultural impact in England to that of Public Enemy in America.
Before the album's release, M.I.A. said that audiences found it hard to dance to
political songs
Revolutionary songs are political songs that advocate or praise revolutions. They are used to boost morale, as well as for political propaganda or agitation. Amongst the most well-known revolutionary songs are "La Marseillaise" and "The Internatio ...
. This made her keen to produce music that sounded like pop but addressed important issues. "
Sunshowers", with its lyrical references to snipers, murder and the
PLO, was written in response to the Tamil Tigers being considered terrorists in some quarters. She said, "you can't separate the world into two parts like that, good and evil. America has successfully tied all these pockets of independence struggles, revolutions and extremists into one big notion of terrorism." The lyrics caused controversy; MTV censored the sounds of gunshots in the song and MTV US refused to broadcast the video unless a disclaimer that disavowed the lyrics was added. The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
described the lyrics as "always fluid and never too rhetorical" and sounding like "snatches of overheard conversation". The songs deal with topics ranging from sex to drug dealing.
Musically, the album incorporates elements of baile funk,
grime
Grime may refer to:
* Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust
* Grime (music genre), a genre of music
* ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity
* ''Grime'' (video game), a 2021 Metroidvania video game
* "Grime", a 2022 song by Dallas Woo ...
,
hip hop, and
ragga
Raggamuffin music, usually abbreviated as ragga, is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music. Similar to hip hop, sampling often serves a prominent role in raggamuffin music.
Wayne Smi ...
. Peter Shapiro, writing in ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'', summed up the album's musical influences as "anything as long as it has a beat".
Some tracks drew on
Tamil film music
Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood ...
, which M.I.A. listened to while growing up.
Shapiro described her music as a "multi-genre pile-up" and likened it to her
graphic art
A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional, i.e. produced on a flat surface. , calling it "vivid, gaudy,
lo-fi
Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...
and deceptively candyfloss".
In a 2005 interview, when asked about the difficulty in categorising her sound, M.I.A. explained, "Influences are crossing over into each other's puddles. I just accept where I'm at, I accept where the world is at and I accept how we receive and digest information. I get that somebody in Tokyo is on the internet
instant messaging
Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing real-time text transmission over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and trigge ...
, and someone in the favelas is on the internet. Everybody seems to know a little bit about everything and that's how we process information now. This just reflects that."
Artwork
M.I.A. and Steve Loveridge created all the album's artwork, using what ''
Spin'' writer Lorraine Ali called a "guerrilla" style. The CD booklet features motifs of tanks, bombs and machine guns, and depictions of tigers, which writers connected with the Tamil Tigers.
''
Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...
'' critic
Robert Christgau connected the album's imagery with the artist's "obsession" with the organisation, but claimed that its use was purely artistic and not propaganda. In his view, the images were considered controversial only because "rock and roll fans are assumed to be stupid" and would not be expected to ascertain their true significance. Similarly,
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
writer Robert Wheaton observed that tiger imagery "does predominate M.I.A.'s vision of the world", but noted that the tiger is more widely associated with
Tamil nationalism
Tamil nationalism is the ideology which asserts that the Tamil people constitute a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Tamil people. Tamil nationalism is primarily a secular nationalism, that focus on language and homeland. It expresses ...
and that the singer's use of such imagery did not necessarily indicate her support for the Tamil Tigers. Joshua Chambers-Letson determined that the imagery was perhaps "a means of negotiating the violence necessary" and described the controversy as "an attempt to disengage" from the performative intervention that M.I.A.'s album's made, through what he called "the complicated negotiation" of M.I.A.'s own autobiographical trauma, violence, and loss, as well as the geopolitical trauma, violence, and loss that her audience are engaged in from different subject positions.
Release
''Arular'' was to be released in September 2004, but was delayed.
M.I.A.'s record label stated that the delay was caused by problems obtaining permission to use an unspecified sample.
[
] Revised release dates of December 2004 and February 2005 were publicised,
but the album remained unreleased; at one point, ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
'' announced that it had been shelved indefinitely.
It was eventually released on 22 March 2005, when
XL Recordings
XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group.
Although only releasing an average of six albu ...
made it available in the US, albeit with the track "U.R.A.Q.T." omitted as the issues with a sample had not been resolved. The UK edition was released the following month with the track included,
and this edition was released in the US by
Interscope Records on 17 May.
''Arular'' sparked internet debates on the rights and wrongs of the Tamil Tigers.
By the time it was released, a "near hysterical buzz" on the internet had created "slavish anticipation" for the album.
Despite this, M.I.A. claimed in late 2005 that she had little comprehension of her prior popularity with music bloggers, stating that she did not even own a computer.
Promotion
The first track from the album to be made available was "
Galang". It was initially released in late 2003 by independent label Showbiz Records, which pressed and distributed 500 promotional copies before M.I.A. signed with XL Recordings.
The song was re-released on XL as the second official single from the album in September 2004, and again in October 2005, under the title "Galang '05", with a remix by
Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian (born August 21, 1967) is an Armenian-American singer, musician, songwriter, political activist and entrepreneur. He is best known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, keyboardist, and occasional rhythm guitarist of heavy metal ...
.
The first official single, "
Sunshowers", was M.I.A.'s first on XL and was released on 5 July 2004. It was supported by a music video directed by Indian filmmaker
Rajesh Touchriver
Rajesh Touchriver (born M. S. Rajesh) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer known for his works in English, Malayalam, Telugu, and Hindi language films. He received various National and International honors for his works. In 20 ...
.
Following the re-release of "Galang", the third single from the album, "
Bucky Done Gun", was released on 26 July 2005. The video was directed by
Anthony Mandler.
In December 2004, M.I.A. independently released a
mixtape titled ''
Piracy Funds Terrorism'', produced by M.I.A. and Diplo, as a "teaser" for the album. The release featured rough mixes of tracks from ''Arular'' mashed up with songs by other artists, and was promoted by word-of-mouth.
In early 2005, after the release of ''Arular'', an extensive collection of fan-made remixes of M.I.A.'s work was uploaded, expanded and made available as an "online mixtape" on XL's official website, under the banner ''Online Piracy Funds Terrorism''.
M.I.A. toured extensively during 2005 to promote the album. The
Arular Tour
The Arular Tour is a global concert tour by M.I.A. performed in support of her first studio album ''Arular'' (2005). It took place from 2005 to 2006.
The tour featured dates across North America, South America, Canada, Europe, Asia and Au ...
included concerts in North America supporting
LCD Soundsystem and appearances at music festivals in Europe, Japan and South America. In November 2005, she appeared as the support act at a number of dates on
Gwen Stefani's
Harajuku Lovers Tour
The Harajuku Lovers Tour was the first solo concert tour of American recording artist Gwen Stefani. The tour began through October to December 2005, to support of her debut studio album ''Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004). Although Stefani emba ...
.
Critical reception
''Arular'' received widespread acclaim from music critics.
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, which assigns a
weighted mean
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, reported an average score of 88 based on 33 reviews, described as "universal acclaim".
Julianne Shepherd of ''
Spin'' appreciated the album's fusion of "
hip hop's cockiness with
dancehall's shimmy and the cheap and noisy aesthetics of
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
" and claimed that ''Arular'' would be regarded as the best political album of the year.
Adam Webb, writing for
Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music was a brand under which Yahoo! provided a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming. Previously, users with Yahoo! accounts could gain access to hundreds o ...
, described the album's style as "professionally amateurish" and M.I.A.'s approach as "scattergun", but said that she "effortlessly appropriates the music of various cultures and filters them through the most elementary equipment". He said, "dancehall is the primary influence, but also one of many seismic collisions with several other genres."
In his review for ''
Stylus Magazine'', Josh Timmermann described ''Arular'' as "a swaggering, spitting, utterly contemporary album" and went on to say, "We've not heard its like before."
''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' writer
Rob Sheffield
Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author.
He is a long time contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at '' Ble ...
found ''Arular'' "weird, playful, unclassifiable, sexy, brilliantly addictive".
Sasha Frere-Jones
Alexander Roger Wallace "Sasha" Frere-Jones (né Jones; born 1967) is an American writer, music critic, and musician. He has written for ''Pretty Decorating'', '' ego trip'', ''Hit It And Quit It'', ''Mean'', '' Slant'', ''The New York Post'', '' ...
, writing in ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', described the album as "genuine
world music", based on "the weaving of the political into the fabric of what are still, basically,
dance tunes".
Other reviewers were not as complimentary. ''
Paste''s Jeff Leven said that the album, although strong, was not as "mindblowing" as many critics were saying. ''
Q'' characterised the album as "style mag-cool pop-rap" and claimed that it lacked the substance suggested by M.I.A.'s decision to name it after her father.
''Arular'' was nominated for the
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...
and the
Shortlist Music Prize
The Shortlist Music Prize, stylized as (shôrt–lĭst), was an annual music award for the best album released in the United States that had sold fewer than 500,000 copies at the time of nomination. First given as a cash prize in 2001 under ...
, and was named as the best album of the year by
Stylus Magazine. The album placed second in two major critics' polls, ''The Village Voice''s 33rd annual ''
Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abs ...
'' poll for the Best Album of 2005 and ''
The Wire
''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2 ...
''s annual critics' poll for Record of the Year. The ''
Washington City Paper
The ''Washington City Paper'' is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The ''City Paper'' is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial mix is focu ...
'' chose it as the second best album of the year, and ''Pitchfork'' and
Slant Magazine named ''Arular'' the fourth best of 2005. ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'' listed it as one of the year's five best albums.
Reappraisal
''Arular'' was featured in the book ''
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...
'', where it was described as "the most sparkling debut since
Madonna's first album". The singer
Nelly Furtado
Nelly Kim Furtado (; ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Furtado has sold over 40 million records worldwide making her one of the most successful Canadian artists.
She first gained fame with her trip hop-inspired deb ...
expressed her admiration for M.I.A.'s style, flow and dancing on ''Arular'', having listened to it during the recording of her album ''
Loose
Loose may refer to:
Places
* Loose, Germany
* Loose, Kent, a parish and village in southeast England
People
* Loose (surname)
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums
* ''Loose'' (B'z album), a 1995 album by B'z
* ''Loose'' (Crazy Horse album ...
''.
Thom Yorke
Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...
of
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...
band
Radiohead cited M.I.A.'s method of music making on ''Arular'' as an influence on his own work, saying that it reminded him of "just picking up a guitar and
ikingthe first three
chords you write" as opposed to "agonizing over the
hi-hat sound which seems to happen with
programming and
electronica a lot of the time". In 2009, the ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' placed the album at number 50 in its list of the 100 greatest albums of the decade. In 2009, online music service
Rhapsody ranked the album at number four on its "100 Best Albums of the Decade" list. In 2011, ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' ranked the album number 52 on its list of the 100 best albums of the 2000s.
''Clash'' magazine ranked the album at number 7 on their list of the "50 greatest albums of our lifetime (since 2004)". ''Pitchfork'' ranked the album the 54th best album of the 2000s. In 2019, the album was ranked 32nd on ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
s 100 Best Albums of the 21st Century list, while in 2020, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked the album at number 421 in their list of the
500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In July 2022, ''Rolling Stone'' also ranked ''Arular'' as the 77th best debut album of all time.
Commercial performance
''Arular'' peaked at number 190 on the
''Billboard'' 200, while reaching number three on the
Top Electronic Albums
Top Dance/Electronic Albums, Dance/Electronic Albums (formerly Top Electronic Albums) is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine which ranks the top-selling electronic music albums in the United States based on sales compiled by ...
chart and number 16 on the
Top Independent Albums
The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by ''Billboard'' magaz ...
. By April 2007, it had sold 129,000 copies in the United States. The album peaked at number 98 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
,
while in mainland Europe, it reached number 20 in Norway, number 47 in Sweden, number 71 in Germany and number 97 in Belgium.
Track listing
;Digital bonus tracks
* "You're Good" – 4:13
* "Lady Killa" – 3:32
* "Do Ya" – 3:22
;Notes
*
signifies an additional
producer
*
signifies a co-producer
* "Bucky Done Gun" is inspired by "Injeção" by
Deize Tigrona and incorporates elements of "
Gonna Fly Now
"Gonna Fly Now", also known as "Theme from ''Rocky''", is the theme song from the movie ''Rocky'', composed by Bill Conti with lyrics by Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins, and performed by DeEtta West and Nelson Pigford. Released in 1976 with ''Rocky ...
" by
Bill Conti
William Conti (born April 13, 1942) is an American composer and conductor, best known for his film scores, including ''Rocky'' (and four of its sequels), ''The Karate Kid'' (and all of its sequels), '' For Your Eyes Only'', ''Dynasty'' (and its ...
.
* "U.R.A.Q.T." contains a sample from "
Sanford and Son Theme (The Streetbeater)" by
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Arular''.
*
Maya Arulpragasam – vocals, artwork
* A. Brucker (
Switch
In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...
under a pseudonym) – production , final mix and production
* Paul Byrne – production , final mix and production
* Diplo – production , co-production
* Pete Hofmann – engineering, mixing
* KW Griff – mixing, production
* Steve Loveridge – artwork design
*
Richard X
Richard Philips, better known by his stage name Richard X, is a British songwriter and music producer. Gaining attention as a pioneer of the bootleg craze, Richard X has earned success as a producer and remixer. He has helmed hit singles for arti ...
– production
* Nesreen Shah – chorus vocals
*
Anthony Whiting
Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a '' gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton ...
– mixing, production
* Dwain 'Willy' Wilson III (Richard X under a pseudonym)
– production
* Wizard – additional production, mixing, programming
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Release history
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Authority control
2005 debut albums
Albums produced by Ant Whiting
Albums produced by Diplo
Albums produced by Richard X
Interscope Geffen A&M Records albums
Interscope Records albums
M.I.A. (rapper) albums
XL Recordings albums