M.I.A. Leaves Jay Z's Roc Nation

M.I.A. is leaving Roc Nation, according to a New Year's Eve tweet from the rapper/singer. She signed with Jay Z's management company a year and a half ago. "Thank to everyone who supported the M.I.A. #MATANGI LP. HAPPY NEW YEAR," she added after the announcement.

A follow-up message from the musician suggested that she may turn to her fans for help in various management fields, writing: "MIA 4 the people by the people, looking for young people to work in fields of ART production / MUSIC /MERCH / FILM / WEB / MARKETING [and] SndCV."

This past summer, M.I.A.'s relationship with Roc Nation soured when the label pulled a trailer for a documentary about the making of her 2013 effort, Matangi. At the time, director Steve Loveridge had leaked the teaser, claiming Roc Nation and M.I.A.'s label, Interscope, were delaying the film's production. The director was quickly slapped with a copyright claim and quit the project.

M.I.A. and Loveridge resumed filming the documentary in London a few months later, however, this time with a new group of co-producers from the non-profit documentary support organization BRITDOC.

That dustup with Roc Nation was not M.I.A.'s only scuffle with music business brass over Matangi. Back in August, the singer threatened to leak her new album because Interscope was not setting an official release date. The tactic did seem to work, though, with the label promptly assigning the record a November 5th release.

Despite the various controversies with her labels, Matangi proved to be one of M.I.A.'s strongest efforts. She is slated to headline next year's Ultra Music Festival in Miami alongside Avicii, Diplo, MGMT and Tiësto.




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