M.I.A., a British rapper best known for her 2007 hit “Paper Planes,” was listed as one of Time magazine’s Top 100 most influential people in 2009.
Born in London as Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam and of Sri Lankan-Tamil descent, the talented musician was raised Hindu. She was highly political and worked hard to get the plight of Palestinians and refugees noticed.
Her work and ethos were so polarizing that in 2006 she was banned from traveling to the U.S. because of her controversial song lyrics and her reported support of the Tamil Tigers — a Sri Lankan guerilla group that the U.S. regards as a terrorist organization.
But in 2017, she underwent perhaps her biggest development of all stemming from a supernatural experience.
During an interview on “The Zane Lowe Show,” M.I.A. gave details about what happened and the transformation she went through as a result, according to Christian Post.
“Since then, my head has been in a totally different place,” she said. “Being a Tamil and being a Hindu, I was very comfortable that I’d arrived finding myself. Which is, I think, going to be weird for America to process.
“But I had a vision, and I saw the vision of Jesus Christ.”
Holding to her Hindu background and believing Christianity to be “basic,” the rapper was stopped in her tracks by what she said was a vision of Jesus. It was so compelling that she became a believer.
“It’s very creatively a crazy thing because it turned my world upside down,” M.I.A. said. “Because everything I thought and believed was no longer the case. And I think that was maybe a sign that something major was going to happen in the world and that people were needing to be introduced to this concept.”
Confirming that she is a born-again Christian, she reiterated how unexpected it was and how it has infiltrated every part of her life.
“I’m not going to lie,” she said. “When I had this vision, it turned my world upside down.”
Perhaps most compelling of all, M.I.A. knew that this paradigm shift may cause her to lose many of her fans and forever change the look of the career she’s spent so much time and effort shaping — but she said she has no choice: She is adamant that Jesus is real, and she will not compromise that message.
“If I’m coming back now saying ‘Jesus is real,’ there’s a point,” she explained.
“Basically, all of my fans might turn against me because they are all progressives who hate people that believe in Jesus Christ in this country.”
Her newest album, “MATA,” is set to come out soon and her single “The One” was released on May 26, giving fans a taste of what is to come. She said that while her new music still draws heavily from her past and culture, it also incorporates elements of her new faith.
“I’m still me,” she said. “That’s still my language. And those are still my tools to be able to create beats like that or a sound like that.
“But I think the message was just to get to a peaceful place. Watch the space. The history is, even if it costs me my career, I won’t lie. I will tell the truth, and I will tell you what’s on my mind and my heart.”
