MIA Calls Out MTV Video Music Awards for Snubbing Her Borders Music Video
M.I.A. called out MTV for "racism," "sexism," "classism" and "elitism" on Twitter Thursday morning after her video "Borders" failed to receive any Video Music Award nominations. "Borders came representing people outside U.S. showing the world. This is a perfect example of allowed' voice versus excluded voices," she added. The musician didn't receive any nods when the nominees were announced Tuesday. In 2012, M.I.A. won the awards for Best Direction, Cinematography and Video of the Year for "Bad Girls.", With her music video "Borders," M.I.A. sought to illustrate the worldwide refugee crisis. A refugee herself, the singer told TIME that a TIME magazine-featured photo of a vast number of people all in one boat inspired her to create the music video, which TIME also named one of the top pop music videos of the year. Speaking about her art, the musician told TIME, "I've taken a lot of criticism and made a lot of sacrifices because I keep talking about this. I could never talk about this again and be more successful, more accessible and more famous and more rich. But I've never done that because that aspect is important for me.", M.I.A.'s upcoming album, A.I.M. will come out Sept. 9.