Quoted: M.I.A. on the Bieber Assault

M.I.A. recently caught some flak (in the form of a Youtube blacklisting, among other things) over the controversial video for her new single, “Born Free,” which features graphic violence directed at a pack of redheaded adolescent boys. And, in a new interview with NME, she claimed another teenage victim: Justin Bieber. Of the Canadian musician’s wildly popular work, she said, “I find the new Justin Bieber video more violent and more of an assault to my eyes and senses than what I’ve made.” Her thoughts on the furor surrounding her own video? “It baffles me that everyone seems to be obsessed with deciphering the meaning to it. It baffles me in the same way as the Brick Lane riot for American Apparel leggings baffled me.”