MIA – globe-trotting musical rabble-rouser - is settling down to have a kid. The British-Sri Lankan rapper is pregnant and was displaying her bump while performing in New York this weekend. Though there's no word as yet of the gender or arrival date, one thing is certain - it will be the flashiest-dressed baby at the local playgroup.
Despite wry mumblings about marrying Kanye, MIA became engaged to Benjamin Brewer this spring. Brewer is the frontman of a little-known rock band called the Exit, but is also – happily – the son of millionaire Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman. "I'm creating a baby," MIA said to Pitchfork on Saturday. "I got engaged first, then I got pregnant, kids."
Though her set at Diesel's star-studded xXx party was full of energy, MIA admitted that she was blindsided both by the pregnancy and by the renewed spotlight she has fallen under this summer. Paper Planes, widely regarded as one of 2007's best songs, became a bona fide hit in 2008 after featuring in the trailer for the Seth Rogen comedy Pineapple Express. "When I found out I was pregnant and Paper Planes was in the iTunes Top 10, it seemed like the whole world was reshuffled in one week," she said. "All my plans went out the window. And that's the lesson - you can't make plans, and you can't say shit."
Still, MIA certainly hasn't retired. She's just "[doing] the rounds ... go[ing] [to] see my family and show[ing] them the belly". In the meantime, she has been working with Rye Rye – a Baltimore rapper whose MIA-featuring tune, Tic Toc, might be the world's next greatest jam. She has also a recorded a cover of Tom Waits's Way Down in the Hole (known to many as the theme-song for The Wire TV series) and has even started work on the follow-up to Kala. Once again, she's collaborating with DJ Switch, but former associate – and ex-boyfriend – Diplo is back on board too. "We made up," MIA said.
Maybe she can get him to help paint the nursery.
