Kala

M.I.A. ended 2005 joining Gwen Stefani on her Harajuku Lovers Tour. The arrival of 2006 saw her returning to the studio to work on her upcoming album, titled Kala. The album was recorded in several countries, and producers on the album are said to include M.I.A., as well as Switch, Diplo and Timbaland. M.I.A. is also working with Three 6 Mafia on two songs for her next album. Two tracks, "XR2" and the album skit "20 Dollar" (which the fans titled "Talk About Moi") premiered on her Myspace and fan forum site, respectively. Arulpragasam visited Liberia in December 2006 to meet war-affected people there including ex-child soldiers and film a documentary on the post war situation in the country with activist Kimmie Weeks. "Bird Flu" was released via her Myspace on February 5, 2007. The video can be found on her official site, or on her Youtube account. In 2007, M.I.A. featured in the song "Come Around", a bonus track on the Timbaland album Timbaland Presents Shock Value. On 24 April 2007, the first official single to be lifted from M.I.A.'s second studio album Kala was premiered by Zane Lowe on BBC Radio 1. The song, "Boyz," contains tribal beats and is supposed to have been produced by Switch, who also produced "Bird Flu." During an interview prior to the single premiering, M.I.A. confirmed that video had been filmed in Jamaica. Zane Lowe then went on to confirm that the album's title is in fact Kala and not "Power Power" or "Jimmy" as previously speculated.

Written in Hawaii and recorded in L.A., KALA marks the final chapter in a trilogy that chronicles Trevor Hall's spiritual and musical journey over the past few years. KALA, which means 'time' in Sanskrit, embodies the very essence of time, permeating in each of the album's tracks.