Right now the scenesters of Mexico City are abuzz over the arrival of London MC Maya Arulpragasam, aka M.I.A., who is in town for Saturday's MX BEAT festival (along with the Beastie Boys!). But by the looks of recent blog activity in the States, could it be that fellow Brooklyn homegirl and former punk singer Santogold is poised to cut into M.I.A.'s current hold over the urban-glam electro-grime female (etc.) performer market? The cause is the release of a new video for the spacey single "L.E.S Artistes," an assault on the "force fakers" of New York's Lower East Side and presumably anywhere else the breed gathers. It is indeed a convincing track, foreboding a bit, but with a hint of cheer and expectation.
Santogold is linked, whether in the studio or on stage, with the likes of Spank Rock, Diplo, Switch, and of course, M.I.A., whose singular sound is echoed a bit on the Santogold track "The Creator." Read more at BBC's Collective and at Rolling Stone, which has a good video of Santogold introducing herself.
* Previously on Intersections, "Grime-glam goddess M.I.A. unleashed on L.A." and "On hip-hop handwringing, international spotrockers unite!" * And, more later on MX BEAT and M.I.A.'s visit to the big D.F.! (This post has been updated.)