Alerts & Newsletters

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

M.I.A. Apparently Has a Big Issue With Drake’s ‘YOLO’ Philosophy

And she's countering it with a new song called "Y.A.L.A."
M.I.A. Releases New Track "Y.A.L.A."
M.I.A.
Photo: Getty

If you ever run into Sri Lankan singer M.I.A., it’s probably best not to ask her how she feels about Drake. Judging from a few things she’s said in recent interviews, and her new song “Y.A.L.A.,” off her most recent album, Matangi, she’s not a fan.

MORE: M.I.A. Releases New Single ‘Bad Girls’ On Pitchfork

The video for “Y.A.L.A.” was done in collaboration with “It” fashion label Kenzo, and features enough rapidly flashing lights to warrant a “flashing images” warning at the beginning of the clip. As for the song’s message, “Y.A.L.A.” refers to the idea of “You Always Live Again,” a direct counter to Drake’s YOLO philosophy:

“YOLO, what that even mean anymore?” she asks in the track. “If you only live once, why we keep doing the same shit? Back home, where I come from, we keep being born again and again.”

MORE: Now Online: Shop M.I.A.’s Knockoff-Inspired Line for Versace, Including a $1,200 Puffer Jacket

She hasn’t let off the Drake digs, either. On Matangi’s title track, she takes Drake’s “Started From The Bottom” to task. “We started at the bottom but Drake gets all the credit,” she says. And in a recent interview with Complex mag, she joked about it. “Well, if Drake is starting at the bottom, then mine is like f–king the pits, innit?” she said. Drake, do you have anything to say for yourself?

StyleCaster Daily
Get the latest news and style intel delivered to your inbox.

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

PMC Logo
StyleCaster is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2026 SheMedia, LLC. All Rights Reserved.