M.I.A. Is Essentially British Royalty Now

Prince William made her a Member Of The Order Of The British Empire.
Menu

Listen

Sound bars
M.I.A. Is Essentially British Royalty Now

Prince William made her a Member Of The Order Of The British Empire.

Words: Kim March

photo by Brigid Gallagher

January 14, 2020

MIA at Riot Fest / photo by Brigid Gallagher

Magazine See All
12

The Los Angeles Issue

With 232 pages and an expanded 12″ by 12″ format, our biggest print issue yet celebrates the people, places, music, and art of our hometown, including cover features on David Lynch, Nipsey Hussle, Syd, and Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records, plus Brian Wilson, Cuco, Ty Segall, Lord Huron, Remi Wolf, The Doors, the art of RISK, Taz, Estevan Oriol, Kii Arens, and Edward Colver, and so much more. 

Read More
Reviews See All

Chanel Beads, Your Day Will Come

Shane Lavers captures the awe and unease of humanity’s impermanence on his debut album of dissociative dream pop.

Couch Slut, You Could Do It Tonight

Leaning into their lyrical strength of expressing life as we know it as a visceral horror story, the sludge-rockers’ fourth album is equally notable for its unexpected instrumental flourishes.

The Libertines, All Quiet on The Eastern Esplanade

Almost 30 years into their existence, the post-punk revivalists let listeners know that their youthful fire hasn’t dimmed on their fourth, most tightly wound album.

The rapper/songstress M.I.A.—full name Maya Arulpragasam—was named a Member Of The Order Of The British Empire for her musical contributions on the Queen’s Birthday Honours list back in June of last year. Other English musical honorees included Elvis Costello, Anna Meredith, and former Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey.

M.I.A.’s high-falutin new status is slightly surprising, considering her often controversial outspokenness and political activism. When she was first informed of the MBE, the singer took to Instagram to explain what the honor meant to her and her family:

I’m honoured to have this honour, as it means alot to my Mother. I want to honour what my mum spent many hours of her life doing! She is one of the 2 women in England who hand stitched these medals for the last 30 years. After receiving asylum my mum and cousin took this job in 1986, because it was the only non English speaking manual labour she could find.

RELATED: The Rage and Resistance of M.I.A.

She spent her life in England hand sewing 1000s of medals for the Queen. No matter how I feel or what I think , my Mother was extremely proud of the job she had. It’s a very unique situation for me where I get to honour her most classiest minimum wage job ever. #TAMIL #UKTAMIL #REFUGEE survival story. #LIFECYCLES.

Today, Prince William himself bestowed the royal honor upon her in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. You can see a photo of the moment (and Maya dressed in a dapper white suit) plus the singer posing proudly with her mother below. Also, I had no idea William was that bald.

Sound bars Sound bars

Listen to flood fm

 Close