M.I.A. Shouts Out Wu-Tang on Pitch-Shifting, Rave-Tinged 'atTENTion'

Song she shared with Twitter followers turns out to be real

Last night, a video purporting to contain a new M.I.A. song titled "atTENTion" surfaced on YouTube, with a description claiming the pop provocateur had shared the music with persistent fans. M.I.A. appeared to lend the track a hint of authenticity by tweeting a Wu-Tang Clan-nodding line from the lyrics, "There's 36 chambers in my tent," though given Maya Arulpragasam's mischievious ways, who knew if she was just enjoying the joke. Now her publicist has confirmed the song is legit. It sets M.I.A.'s martial, pitch-mangled chants, which mostly center around the phrase "tent," over rumbling post-dubstep bass lines and bustling nu-rave breaks. Still unclear is whether we might expect "ATENTion" on M.I.A.'s forthcoming album Matangi, which has been delayed from its originally scheduled December 2012 release to an unspecified future date. But she's definitely got our, uhh, aTENTion.