Kala (2007)

Kala is the second studio album by English recording artist M.I.A. It was released on 8 August 2007 through XL Recordings. M.I.A. named the album after her mother and has stated that her mother's struggles in life are a major theme of the album. It was mainly written and produced by M.I.A. and Switch, and features contributions from Timbaland, Diplo, Afrikan Boy and The Wilcannia Mob.

Initially planning to work with American producer Timbaland for the bulk of the album, M.I.A. was unable to gain a long-term work visa to enter the US. Therefore, she recorded Kala in numerous countries around the world, including India, Angola, Trinidad, Liberia, Jamaica and Australia. M.I.A. and Switch relied heavily on the digital audio workstation Logic Pro and recorded additional vocals and background sounds outside the studio environment. Kala incorporates prominent influences from South Asian music, featuring samples of Bollywood and Tamil cinema. The album draws on various styles, from funk carioca to African folk. The songs are about political themes related to the Third World, including illegal immigration, poverty and capitalism.

Kala was the best-performing album on the US Billboard Electronic Albums chart of 2007, and was certified gold by the RIAA for selling 500,000 copies in the US. It was certified platinum in Canada and gold in the UK. It spawned the singles "Bird Flu", "Boyz", "Jimmy" and "Paper Planes", the latter of which received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year at the 2009 Grammy Awards.

The album received widespread critical acclaim and was ranked as one of the best albums of 2007 by many publications. Since its initial release, it has been included in several greatest albums lists. Renowned music critic Robert Christgau remarked that the album is his favourite of the 21st century.

Composition and recording

M.I.A. (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam) had released her debut album Arular in 2005, which achieved critical acclaim and sold 130,000 copies. Plans for a second album were first revealed when she spoke later that year of her intention to work with American producer Timbaland. At one point it was anticipated that he would produce the bulk of the album. However, she was unable to gain a long-term work visa to enter the US, reportedly due to her family's connections with guerrillas in Sri Lanka. This led to conflicts between the two artists' schedules and meant that Timbaland's involvement was restricted to a poorly received guest verse on the track "Come Around". M.I.A. instead opted to record the album at a variety of locations around the world, beginning by travelling to India following the last date of her Arular Tour in Japan in February 2006.