Borders (M.I.A. song)

"Borders"
Single by M.I.A.
from the album AIM
Released20 November 2015 (2015-11-20)
Genre
Length4:11
LabelInterscope
Songwriter(s)
  • Maya Arulpragasam
  • Amish Patel
  • Levi Lennox
Producer(s)
  • ADP
  • Lennox
M.I.A. singles chronology
"Swords"
(2015) 		"Borders"
(2015) 		"Go Off"
(2016)
Music video
"Borders" on YouTube
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
411MANIA[1]
Billboard[2]
Renowned for Sound[3]

"Borders" is a song by recording artist M.I.A. for her fifth studio album, AIM (2016). The track was written by M.I.A., Levi Lennox and Amish Patel,[4] and has been described as an electronic song incorporating such musical styles as hip hop and world music.[3]

M.I.A. reportedly wrote "Borders" in two hours, which is the quickest she has ever written a song.[5] Lyrically, the song references current world problems and reflects on popular culture.[6]

The single was made available for online streaming on 20 November 2015, but was pulled later the same day.[7] It was released globally as a digital single on 27 November 2015, accompanied by its socially and politically charged music video which went viral and sparked controversy. Time magazine has named it one of the best videos of 2015.[8] The song is also used in the credits of 2017 action-adventure video game Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.[9]

  1. ^ Hayter, David (28 November 2015). "411MANIA | M.I.A. – "Borders" Review". 411mania.com. Archived from the original on 5 July 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  2. ^ Jem Aswad (4 December 2015). "M.I.A.'s Borders and More of Week's Best and Worst Singles". Billboard. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  3. ^ a b Smith, Michael (9 December 2015). "Single Review: M.I.A. – Borders". renownedforsound.com. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  4. ^ "Borders - M.I.A." AllMusic. www.allmusic.com. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  5. ^ Nolan Feeney (24 December 2015). "Why M.I.A. Made a Video About the Migrant Crisis and Put It on Apple Music". Time. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  6. ^ Spencer Kornhaber (30 November 2015). "What M.I.A.'s 'Borders' Video Says About Refugees—and Pop Music's Hypocrisy - The Atlantic". www.theatlantic.com. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  7. ^ Zoe Camp (20 November 2015). "M.I.A. Releases New Song 'Borders'". Pitchfork Media. pitchfork.com. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  8. ^ Nolan Feeney (1 December 2015). "Top 10 Pop Music Videos". Time. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  9. ^ YouTube (25 August 2017). "Uncharted: The Lost Legacy - End Credits, Post-Credits Scene & Song (M.I.A. - Borders)". youtube.com. Retrieved 12 January 2020.