Photo courtesy of The Philadelphia Inquirer

Maya “M.I.A.” Arulpragasam has never been a fan of native Sri Lanka’s government. As a result of her public opposition, she has received several death threats. This coupled with her son, Ikhyd Edgar Arular Bronfman, greatly influenced the creation of her upcoming album /\/\/\Y/\ (or, Maya). Scheduled for release on June 23. “Steppin’ Up“ is the third single from the album.

“In the last months of pregnancy I watched so much destruction that was happening in Sri Lanka, and saw hundreds of babies being blown up. It was disgusting and it was horrible to watch and I felt so guilty inflicting that on my unborn baby. But at the same time it was a reality. I couldn’t really ignore it, I got extra protective.

“People were sending me death threats and telling me bad shit about my kid… People would write on Twitter and YouTube, ‘Your baby is going to die,’ because I was talking about the Sri Lankan government and the issues that were going on there,” M.I.A. said to Dazed & Confused Magazine.

“Even though I had all this amazing success, at the same time I was watching this crazy destruction going on over there. No one really wanted to talk about it and then all these people were reaching out to me to talk about it because I am the only one that can represent them.

At the same time I was pregnant and I didn’t want to have to deal with that shit but I had no choice. It was the month they decided to end a 30 year long civil war so it wasn’t like I could go, ‘Ooo, sorry I just can’t deal with this right now, I’ve got a baby on the way!’ Maybe I should have done that. I think the album is a mixture of all those things – babies, death, destruction, and powerlessness.”

“Steppin’ Up“ is the third release from M.I.A.’s third upcoming album, a follow up to “Born Free” and “XXXO.”