It’s been a fairly quiet week for M.I.A. — no feuds with New
York Times journalists, nary a “Google is a puppet of the CIA” conspiracy
theory floated. But all that changed on Friday (June 11), when a Jay-Z-ified
remix of her first single, “XXXO” hit the Net.

The a glossy, electro-stomping reworking of M.I.A.’s original
track features a brand-new verse from Jay himself, in which he proclaims,
“This is not my politically correct flow.” He then proceeds to spit
some great lines about metrosexuals and machine guns. There’s no word on who
did the actual production work for the track, and by press time, M.I.A.’s
label, Interscope, had not responded to MTV News’ request for comment.

The “XXXO” remix isn’t the first time Jay and M.I.A.
have collaborated together. The duo — along with Kanye West, Lil Wayne and T.I.
— famously tore up the stage at the 2009 Grammy Awards with their version of
“Swagga Like Us,” a performance that was made even more remarkable by
the fact that M.I.A. was nine-months pregnant with her first son, Ikhyd.

According to reports, M.I.A. will film a video for
“XXXO” — the official first single off her album ///Y/ —
with iconic hip-hop director Hype Williams. The album is due to hit stores on
July 13. In the past two months, M.I.A. has stepped up her rather unorthodox
promotion strategy for the album, releasing a controversial video for the song
“Born Free”, feuding with Lady Gaga and taking Times reporter
Lynn Hirschberg to task for a less-than-flattering cover story. (Via MTV News)