More Material From M.I.A. That Has No Connection to Truffle Fries

Forget fake M.I.A. songs — here’s a real one (maybe)! This afternoon, roughly an hour before Diplo tweeted, “Just listened to mastr of the MIA album … WOW … my 3 trax are slammin! dunno bout the rest-sounds like skinny puppy :( & gives me nightmares :(,” BBC Radio 1’s Zane Lowe debuted “Stepping Up,” an M.I.A. banger that is indeed pretty scary. It’s only two-and-a-half-minutes long, but crammed with all manner of odd bleeps, Auto-Tuned bits, and what sounds like chopped-up versions of Hot 97 D.J. drops. “Sound of a bomb blast, throw it in a bag,” M.I.A. chants on the chorus, and then fuzzy booms do their best to correspond. As Flavorwire, who spotted the debut, points out, “Stepping Up” isn’t on the officially released track list so, okay, yes, this may not actually be from /\/\/\Y/\ (or it could be a bonus track? or the track list is being changed up? or Lowe released it with the wrong title? ). One thing that’s clear is that “Stepping Up” is not a rush-recorded song from after the /\/\/\Y/\ sessions — at no point, as far as we can tell, is Lynn Hirschberg being insulted.