Bark + Bite

Madonna rocks the halftime show at the Super Bowl

Madonna may be one old dog, but she's definitely picked up plenty of new tricks.

The 53-year-old pop diva performed at the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show in Indianapolis in an eye-popping spectacle. The set opened with a Roman empire-style take on her hit "Vogue." She tutted her way through the number and then transitioned to her song "Music," which then segued into a megamix of LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" which resulted in Madonna shuffling with the Gordy boys. Amazing.

Madonna then brought out her brown cheerleaders, Nicki Minaj and M.I.A., for a brief run through of her new single "Give Me All Your Luvin'," and M.I.A. might land everybody in a little hot water as she flipped the bird on camera during her verse. As Janet Jackson's nipplegate saga taught us, the FCC doesn't play when it comes to the Super Bowl.

For her final act, Madonna brought out an all-black choir and Cee Lo Green for a divine rendition of her hit song, "Like A Prayer." It was an all-around pop music touchdown. No complaints.

Watch Madonna's Super Bowl halftime performance below

M.I.A. stunts in the Moroccan desert like a boss in "Bad Girls" video

Teaming up with "Born Free" director Romain Gavras, M.I.A. hits the Moroccan desert for what pretty much ends up being a North African version of The Fast and the Furious. It's all guns, girls and really fast cars.

Watch the video for M.I.A.'s new single below

M.I.A. rides dirty in new single "Bad Girls"

M.I.A. is in a big Tonka and she's reppin' Sri Lanka in her jeep-rattlin' new single "Bad Girls." The song, produced by former Timbaland protege Danja, is a Bollywoodified dirty, dangerous number from her upcoming 4th album.

The production is top notch and M.I.A. has a decent hook on her hands with her chanty, "Live fast, die young" refrain. But unlike her unexpected hit, "Paper Planes," it's not quite as sing songy. And she ends up sounding a bit bored, flat and monotonous on parts of the song.

Nonetheless, the grimey sound and feel of the track suit M.I.A.'s rough and dirty brand. Perhaps she can eke out a little goodwill from her much more dance pop collaboration with Madonna.

Listen to M.I.A.'s new single below

Diplo and M.I.A. just can't be friends

It's true that Diplo and M.I.A. helped build each other's careers, but ever since her third album Maya dropped, the two have been at each other's throats in the press.

Diplo did end up helping out on a few tracks for M.I.A.'s last album Maya, which bombed spectacularly. And now he says that the two of them are dunzo, professionally and personally, in an interview with Women's Wear Daily.

There is no need to bring up M.I.A. to Wesley Pentz, aka Diplo, the DJ-producer-ex-boyfriend who was instrumental in her success. Pentz will do it on his own. At first it’s complimentary in a conversation about Coachella. “I saw M.I.A. play there two years ago and it was probably one of the most amazing shows I ever saw,” he says. But then: “Last year she played, too, and it was kind of lame.” Ask him if they’re friends and the answer is, “No, no, no. Not anymore. No one in my camp talks to her anymore. She’s kind of really gone crazy.”

SOURCE:ONTD

Diplo has a hit song with Chris Brown in the can and several tracks slated for Beyonce's new album, so he's hardly hurting for work. Then again, M.I.A. is in the studio with Swizz Beatz, so she's not so terribly off either.

It's not impossible that Diplo and M.I.A. may one day reunite in the studio and craft magic like they did for Arular and Kala. But this messiness is what happens when you mix business with pleasure.

M.I.A. opens up about the dark side of fame, infamous NY Times interview

Talking to The Hour's George Stroumboulopoulos, M.I.A. dug into a lengthy discussion about the harrowing pitfalls of fame, success and the Hollywood machine.

"I've always been raised as 'we'...but in order to be completely successful and to get to this other stage, you have to start saying 'me', and I don't agree with it," said the artist in regard to her latest album. "Success is really being successful being successful."

More wistful than most artists when talking about her fame, M.I.A. was her usual raw and honest self, especially when it came to her infamous interview with the New York Times. She even got a good old-fashioned dig at the pop star du jour, casting Katy Perry as the latest disposable pop tart of the moment. (Hey, better to piss off Katy Perry fans than the Beliebers like she did last time).

Maya does, however, laugh it off at the end when pushed to answer to her over-the-line tweeting of the journalist's phone number, saying that the journalist was due some electronic interruptions for her father's history in creating the email.

For more on M.I.A.'s interview, watch excerpts from her interview below:

M.I.A. sparkles in her digital love letter "XXXO" video

The long-awaited Hype Williams-directed music video for M.I.A.'s first single "XXXO" has finally surfaced. The video had been delayed more than Dr. Dre's Detox album at this point and some were wondering if it would ever see the light of day. Well, it's here. And it's a gaudy, tacky but sexy, digital love letter to MySpace and the pioneering days of the internet when GeoCities and Angelfire reigned supreme and eyesore-inducing animated gifs were prevalent. It also doesn't hurt that M.I.A. cleans up quite nicely with her seductive, plump red lips and beauty pageant poses. Watch out, Beyonce.

Watch the video for M.I.A.'s first single below

The confusing dynamics of M.I.A. and Diplo's love/hate relationship

Controversy, unrest and discord are all traits that M.I.A. courts in support of her anti-establishment brand of anti-pop music. Her music stokes political fires and she howls into her bullhorn in defense of the 3rd world poor who suffer under the abuses of the 1st world's ambivalence and greed. But the promotion of her third album, /\/\/\Y/\ (MAYA), has been fraught with mini-scandals, barbs and friendly fire at the hands of her one-time lover and longtime producer, Diplo. See what happens when producers and singers cross that line?

The most buzzed about scandal to date came from a profile in The New York Times, written by Lynn Hirschberg. Some described it as a hit piece, but moving beyond whether Hirschberg was just or fair in her write-up, she didn't have to look far for much of her ammunition. Diplo was interviewed for the piece and he aired M.I.A. out as a calculated provocateur who'd do pretty much anything for attention.

Once the firestorm erupted over the article and M.I.A. blasted Hirschberg on Twitter and her site, Diplo tweeted more barbs at M.I.A. (which he has since deleted) generally agreeing with the accuracy of the article. Things cooled off after that for a little while, but Diplo kicked up dust earlier this month when he joked that M.I.A.'s album was a turd. And most recently, Diplo said that M.I.A. didn't care about the quality of her new album and is surrounded by yes men who won't tell her the truth. SOURCE: Blackbook.com

M.I.A. and the attack of the clones take on Letterman

What would be a fun way to spice up a late night TV show performance? How about playing an unannounced game of "Where's Waldo" by having 15 or so extras on stage dressed exactly like you? That M.I.A. sure is one sly fox. Always with the shocking and the awing.

The pot-stirring rapper/singer/artist (whatever she goes by these days) took over David Letterman's show for a rousing, rowdy performance of her buzz single "Born Free." The song, which samples Suicide's "Ghost Rider," is a frenetic, disorderly mess of distorted vocals and revolutionary drums. Not the sort of thing American Top 40 radio would ever touch with a 10-foot pole, but it works on record as a post-punk anthem. As a live performance, however, it's a muddied, distasteful soup that makes it hard to decipher, much less swallow.

Watch M.I.A. perform "Born Free" on Letterman's show below