M.I.A. says she's coming to US, denounces war while extending support to Julian Assange: 'I'll come in peace'
Rapper M.I.A. has taken to her social media on September 21 to announce she is set for a trip to The United States. Although she hasn't confirmed what the exact reason for coming to America is, the 'Paper Planes' hitmaker has already acquired her visa. There are also no tours planned for her in 2020 so any on-stage performances may take place at specific events. "On an other note I got my American visa today. Ill come in peace," she said on Twitter on September 21.
M.I.A.'s announcement leads off of previous tweets discussing war crimes. The rapper shared that she had watched a recent virtual court case involving WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who was being charged for publishing unredacted classified documents. Assange, 49, is fighting extradition to the US, where he is facing an 18-count indictment alleging a plot to hack computers and conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information.
Computer scientist Professor Christian Grothoff.was called to the witness stand. M.I.A. called him "brilliant" in his responses to a lot of questioning. She then continued to tweet about the case, bringing up why the case was not discussing war crimes but instead, focusing on what she felt was pointless questioning: "His basic point was, there were documents about war crimes, why aren't we discussin that? Instead spent 3hrs talking about what time the @nyt @guardian and @derspiegel @wikileaks tweeted something that was already public.Was anyone harmed by docs?The anwr is no! If yes,prove it."
I witnessed this witness.
— M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) September 21, 2020
Pretty intense questioning, even the judge got angry of the relentless cross examination he had to go through. I'll advice anyone to study from Prof. Dr. Christian Grothoff. Grothoff is Professor for Computer Science in Switzerland. He's was brilliant. https://t.co/hq8m3bBWlx
His basic point was, there were documents about war crimes, why aren't we discussin that? Instead spent 3hrs talking about what time the @nyt @guardian and @derspiegel @wikileaks tweeted something that was already public.Was anyone harmed by docs?The anwr is no! If yes,prove it. https://t.co/MqMNEoADo3
— M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) September 21, 2020
Diverting a little from the topic, M.I.A.'s latest tweet announcing her trip to the U.S. also included a more personal thought on war overall. Calling for a spirit of unity, M.I.A. added, "Lets just admit wars are the #1 pollution causing thing in this world. And we all need to do better and work together to find solutions."
On an other note I got my American visa today. Ill come in peace. Lets just admit wars are the #1 pollution causing thing in this world. And we all need to do better and work together to find solutions.
— M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) September 21, 2020
M.I.A. has voiced her support for Julian Assange in previous tweets. She’s defended and spoken with the WikiLeaks founder on a number of occasions in the past. Last year, she performed at the ‘Don’t Extradite Assange’ event outside the Home Office in London.
As far as her music is concerned, M.I.A.'s highly anticipated sixth album has kept fans eagerly awaiting since her 2016 LP 'AIM'. Although, the rapper did treat fans to a new single this month. Titled 'CTRL', the new song dropped on September 9, much to the excitement of fans.
“CTRL! A SONG FOR 2020… This is not a song from M.I.A’s upcoming highly anticipated IIIIIIth LP. It was made for the HERE + NOW, TODAY,” she wrote on social media.
Born Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam in London to Sri Lankan Tamil parents, M.I.A. and her family moved to Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka when she was six months old. The first 11 years of her life were marked by displacement caused by the Sri Lankan Civil War and she and her family eventually returned to London as refugees. M.I.A. began her career as a visual artist and filmmaker and moved into making music after filming a documentary on the band Elastica in 2001.