Album Review: Aim

As has become de rigueur in hip-hop in recent years, MIA has announced that AIM will be her final album. Whilst we’ll have to wait and see how that promise plays out, if it does indeed prove to be her swansong, then Maya Arulpragasm is certainly going out on a high.

A musical and sonic tour de force, AIM also touches on the political and cultural zeitgeist, thanks to the abundant references to borders, refugees and political unrest.

Variously incorporating Middle Eastern soundscapes, bhangra, grime, psychedelia and crunching hip-hop, Arulpragasm and her production team (including the like of Blaqstarr and Richard X) have assembled an exhilarating rollercoaster of a record.

Best of all is the industrial-tinged ‘Fly Pirates’, the title of which references the MIA’s run-in with – of all people – the football club Paris Saint Germain (the singer having appeared in the ‘Borders’ video wearing a PSG shirt, only with sponsor slogan Fly Emirates adapted to read ‘Fly Pirates’). AIM most definitely hits the target.