M.I.A: "I Get To See A Bigger Picture Of America..."

M.I.A has talked about her time in America and how her view of things there has changed.

She told Complex Magazine: “When I first came in the mid-'90s, I was listening to loads of hip-hop, and the gangsta-rap era completely engulfed me. There's where I spent my time. Those were the clubs I went to, and those were the people I was hanging out with, so I had a weird understanding of it. But now I get to see a bigger picture of America. It's different.

“The thing that I enjoyed about it when I came to L.A. was that it was just people doing whatever they liked. It was your life and you could do things and you were in charge. There were barbecues all the time in every park, house parties. Just so much more joy. And now it doesn't seem like that. And it's because it's so expensive there. By the time you've got to doing your house, insurance, your car, and paid a bill for your baby, it's just too hard for you to have any fun, you know?”