Photo Gallery: MIA
MIA has finally been granted a new US visa, allowing her to travel to the States to perform.
She plays the Siren Festival on New York’s Coney Island tomorrow (July 21).
She had previously been refused a US visa on numerous occasions, scuppering her chances of promoting her debut album, 'Arular', there. It has been reported that her father was a member of the terrorist group the Tamil Tigers, in Sri Lanka, which may have been a factor the US authorities' thinking.
"It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to get into the US," she told The Village Voice, a few days before she was granted her visa. "I have an apartment in Brooklyn. It’d be nice to go there."
The singer added she did not think her heavily political lyrics or background had anything to do with the previous refusals.
"Generally, there’s just some bands over her [in the UK] going through it,’ she said. ‘I think Klaxons are in the same boat."
MIA releases he new album, ‘Kala’, on August 20.
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