10 Most Controversial Music Videos Ever

Born Free is an interesting one, as it tries to start a conversation similar to Childish Gambino’s This Is America, yet received an almost completely different reception.

While both caused controversy, Gambino was largely praised for igniting a debate while M.I.A. was condemned for trying to do so with something so trivial as a music video. Was the world just not ready back in 2010? Or was M.I.A. simply not as artful as Gambino in her messaging?

Watch the video and see for yourself, but certainly what she’s trying to do is powerful.

The video depicts a genocide of red haired people as a stand-in for racial persecution, particularly in Sri Lanka. The violence saw complaints flood in and YouTube banned it in the USA & UK before eventually reversing the decision.

M.I.A. criticised YouTube’s decision to initially ban the full video, claiming ‘it’s just fake blood and ketchup’; the very fact people were more upset with her than the actual genocides she was calling attention to spoke volumes, in her eyes, to the hypocrisy in media.

Either way, Born Free got a huge publicity boost from the controversy, but also launched hundreds of think pieces and pundit soundbites criticising her and her cause.