Rolling Stone & Billboard Tussle over M.I.A.'s New Album 'Kala'

While no official statement has been issued, both Billboard and Rolling Stone have reported that M.I.A. will be releasing her second album titled 'Kala', on August 21...or June 26 depending which source you choose to believe.

Rolling Stone was first off the blocks, insisting that that M.I.A.'s hotly anticipated second album will be titled 'Kala' and will be in stores June 26 via Interscope.

The magazine also confirmed that the single Bird Flu will be on it, as will collaborations with Diplo and Timbaland.

Then Billboard.com piped in adding new fuel to the fire with news that Sri Lankan artist M.I.A. will release her sophomore album on Aug. 21, not on June 26 as had been reported by Rolling Stone.

Billboard reconfirmed that 'Kala' will include the track Bird Flu, which has been making the rounds online in recent months, particularly on M.I.A.'s Myspace page.

"This beat is going to kill everyone," she said on her Myspace blog of the recent single, adding that the video for which was shot "out there in a fishing village in south coast of India"."The village was hit by a tsunami, but they still were in good shape," she added. "We practically moved there and had the craziest time going out fishing everyday. I always used to say that one day I'm going to run away and marry a fisherman and live happily ever after and I thought, damn, I was close to seeing the reality of my plan B."

She added that the local population had influenced the clip. "We discovered an amazing boy who can outdance anything I've ever seen," MIA explained. "He invented me the bird flu dance."

As well as Timbaland and Diplo, 'Kala' will feature Baltimore act Blagstar and house DJ producer Dave Taylor (also known as Switch) who has produced for M.I.A. previously.

Speaking of Timbaland, M.I.A. was truly "missing in action" from Timbo's 'Shock Value' LP, despite reports that she would appear on it. The reason- - The song recorded for the LP, 'Come Around', was released as an overseas exclusive bonus track.

'Kala' was recorded by M.I.A. during sessions that ranged in location from India to Trinidad, New York, London and Baltimore over the past year. M.I.A, aka London born, Sri Lanka raised rapper and singer Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, hit a nerve in 2005 with her debut release 'Arular', before playing sold out shows across Europe and the U.S. 'Kala' is the followup to 2005 "Arular," which has sold 129,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It reached No. 3 on Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart and No. 14 on the Heatseekers tally.

At one point M.I.A. road to world domination hit a snag when she was barred from entry into the United States due to her father connection to the separatist Tamil Tigers organization. Thankfully that is all in the past, leaving the only current problem left to work out being the actual release date of 'Kala'.

From M.I.A.'s record company:
Hailing from Sri Lanka via London, M.I.A. is Maya Arulpragasam. Her early underground singles, 'Galang' and 'Sunshowers', shocked listeners with sharp lyrics about urban unease thrown on top of raw beats you could dance to, and in late 2004, as she finished her debut album for XL Recordings, she released a hiphop style promotional mixtape showcasing her distinctive vocal style and quirky rapping over dancehall rhythms and instrumental tracks by platinum artists like Missy Elliot and JayZ. As a collaboration with another buzz artist (Philly DJ producer Diplo., the Piracy Funds Terrorism Vol. 1 mixtape had roughly the same effect as gasoline on an open fire. the project made many critics' "best of" list for 2004 while simultaneously cementing her proper album Arular as the most anticipated release of 2005.