AIM (album)
| AIM | ||||
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| Studio album by M.I.A. | ||||
| Released | 9 September 2016 | |||
| Recorded | 2014–16 | |||
| Length | 39:49 | |||
| Label | ||||
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| M.I.A. chronology | ||||
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| Singles from AIM | ||||
| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 6.1/10 |
| Metacritic | 65/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ |
| The Guardian | |
| The Independent | |
| The Irish Times | |
| NME | |
| Pitchfork | 5.9/10 |
| Rolling Stone | |
| The Times | |
| Vice | A |
AIM is the fifth studio album by English recording artist M.I.A., released on 9 September 2016 by Interscope and Polydor. Prior to its release, the rapper claimed that it would be her final album. M.I.A. worked on the composition and production of the album with a range of collaborators, including Blaqstarr, Diplo and Skrillex.
AIM received mixed reviews from music critics, some praising certain songs but commenting on the album's lack of focus. It spent just one week in the albums chart in both the UK and US. In the US, it was her first album not to reach the top 40 on the Billboard 200 since her debut release in 2005, although like her previous three albums AIM topped the magazine's Dance/Electronic Albums chart.
M.I.A. released her fourth album Matangi in November 2013. Although it received generally positive reviews, it failed to match the commercial performance of her previous two albums. Early reports indicated that the rapper's next album would be titled Matahdatah and have the concept of an audio-visual series filmed around the world, but on 14 July 2016, M.I.A. confirmed that the album would actually be entitled AIM. She considered it her most positive work, saying that there were "no complaints" on it, and claimed that it would be her last album.
Tracks for the album were recorded in various locations around the world. M.I.A. used several different studios in Jamaica to record five songs which appear on the recording, including "Foreign Friend", which features a guest appearance by Jamaican singjay Dexta Daps. "Swords" was recorded during a trip to India. The rapper worked with a number of producers on the album, including reuniting with American producer Diplo. The pair had collaborated previously, including on M.I.A.'s biggest hit, "Paper Planes", but had subsequently experienced a personal dispute which included M.I.A. attacking Diplo in interviews, and led to Matangi being the first of the artist's albums to include no input from Diplo. In June 2016, however, M.I.A. visited the Parklife music festival in Manchester, where Diplo was performing with the act Major Lazer, and the pair worked on the track, reportedly in the festival's car park. Diplo characterised the recording of the track, which included M.I.A. sending a new section of vocals to him at the last minute, as "done very much in [M.I.A.'s] style: complete chaos".
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