The Singles Jukebox

Fair to say we have one consensus takeaway from this track…

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[5.33]

Alfred Soto: Over a decade ago M.I.A. already declared a People’s Republic of Swaggastan, so I don’t know what the fuck she’s talking about. The best lack some conviction, however: it’s hard to be a star in the sky when the beat sounds like a Pete Rock discard from 1992. “Send me money and I’ll send you a song,” she raps after some twaddle about coalitions. Either she grasps something I don’t about changing neoliberal hearts or she’s trying for another fluke like “Paper Planes,” which got to the American top five because it had gun shots and sounded dangerous and sad. “Freedun” has the latter, thanks to the diffusion of Zayn into a spirit of pitch-altered rue. Maybe she does know something about what to do with the rich.
[5]

Juana Giaimo: The first words of “Freedun” set the mood. After this introduction, you simply can’t expect the incriminatory and straightforward style of “Borders.” Instead, “Freedun” lingers on in a placid vagueness — even Zayn is distorted to dissimulate his overaffected voice. The chill mood may be part of M.I.A.’s persona, but it’s hard to commit to a song when they aren’t committing either.
[5]

Cédric Le Merrer: “Swaggerstan”. A Zayn feature. Come on guys, you have to admit that stoned M.I.A. is pretty funny.
[7]

Tim de Reuse: As Maya welcomes us into her Swag Van in the People’s Republic of Swaggerstan, she can barely keep her head up. She has bags under her eyes and she keeps making wrong turns and driving way under the speed limit. She’s rapping with the bored, distracted conviction of someone who figures it’ll all get fixed in post. She drops the word “refugees” at some point as if she’s about to make a point, but spends the rest of the time loping in pseudo-inspirational circles. Zayn is there too, I guess, though you’d be forgiven for completely missing him — he’s somewhere in the back yawning out a chorus, trying not to fall asleep. This is the worst vacation ever.
[2]

Katherine St Asaph: Replicates, near-flawlessly, the experience of chilling out to a minor M.I.A. album track while half-hearing something you think might be “Needed Me” playing in the next room over. There’s no way that was the intention.
[5]

Scott Mildenhall: M.I.A’s rhymes are utterly parodic, and that sort of seems to be the point, but not really a worthwhile one. The overall effect is that of a better-appreciated Nadia Oh — never a bad thing — but what really makes “Freedun” is the spectral presence of Zayn. If you look closely at certain One Direction albums you’ll see he actually gets a credit for “ghostliness”, such are his haunting capabilities. On this occasion, he makes something that could be out-and-out ridiculous into something ethereal.
[7]

Jonathan Bradley: She uses Zayn well, his boy band sweetness sugaring the hazy drift of the chords while the staticky drums, clanging in the distance, evoke the bright 1990s like half-forgotten histories. Half-forgotten shouldn’t mean half-finished though: the a/a/a/a/a/ad nauseum rhyme scheme evokes a carelessness borne of triviality. M.I.A.’s lyrics have always been slogans, but these aren’t very good slogans; yes, the dreadful “People’s Republic of Swagistan” coinage sets the tone, but namedropping Tarzan or Tomb Raider in 2016 isn’t any more inspiring. “Dinosaurs died out and I’m still strong” is a rare bright spot, however, and, in its goofiness, an instance of M.I.A.’s talent for conjuring the unexpected and pungent in the catchiest of circumstances.
[4]

Will Adams: Not sure why people get so hung up on the Swaggastan bit. This is coming from a lyricist who’s previously written songs that are solely liquor puns or contain lines like, “Is your dad a dealer, ’cause you’re dope to me.” She’s had fun before, and she’s having fun now. The actual notable lyric in “Freedun” is “You’re gonna sing my song tonight.” She’s not wrong; the playground chant hook has already danced its way into your ears as Polow da Don’s hefty beat. A spectral Zayn sings from the rafters, but M.I.A. couldn’t give less of a fuck, and it’s a cruise to the finish line.
[7]

Ryo Miyauchi: The problem with that “swagger man in a swagger van from Swaggerstan” line isn’t its cheap, crass humor. This is actually the better country pun in AIM. But after listening to the entirety of “Freedun,” it’s the most tangible set of lyrics with a clear idea to take home. She’s thinking about… something. Her current role as a musician? What music means to the world at large? It’s on the cusp of meaning something beyond just a song with a swag joke and an Auto-Tuned Zayn hook. Unfortunately, this is deep as it gets.
[6]