M.I.A. has claimed that Jay-Z told her to “get plastic surgery” when she first signed to his management company, Roc Nation.
The British-Sri Lankan rapper, producer, songwriter and singer joined the Roc Nation roster back in 2012 ahead of releasing her fourth studio album, ‘Matangi’, in November 2013.
In December 2013, M.I.A. announced that she was leaving Roc Nation. Relations between the artist and the company were believed to have been strained following an incident the previous year, when a trailer for M.I.A.’s documentary was leaked online by director Steve Loveridge.
Roc Nation removed the promo clip from YouTube, with M.I.A. claiming to have been “blacklisted”.
Now, in a new video obtained by Live Bitez, the ‘Paper Planes’ star explained (via Page Six): “Even when I met Jay-Z and I signed to Roc Nation, the first thing he told me to do is get plastic surgery.
“I’m not insecure because I would’ve got plastic surgery. So their argument of, ‘Maya’s fucking insecure, that’s why she needs to fucking massage her ego’, fails! Fails!
rapper MIA reveals that after she signed to roc nation, jay z told her to get plastic surgery because she wasn’t “pretty enough”. pic.twitter.com/YF21YWopKK
— welp. (@YSLONIKA) November 30, 2024
“Because if I was insecure, I would’ve done that 100 times over […] It’s OK. Guess what? I’m 50. And I’m totally fine with the fact I am, because yeah… I fucking took off when I was 30.
“It took 10 more fucking years than any other motherfucker because I was the first, and I was the new. And I was like, making something interesting happen that wasn’t happening before.”
In 2012, M.I.A. joined Jay-Z onstage during his headline set at Radio 1’s Hackney Weekend in London to perform a mash-up of ‘Paper Planes’ and ‘Bad Girls’.
She later claimed in 2018 that her former manager Jay had told her to sign a “ridiculous” Super Bowl settlement following her controversial cameo in Madonna’s 2012 Halftime Show.
In 2014, it was reported that M.I.A. had settled with the NFL. No details on the terms of the settlement were released by either party.
Co-founded by Jay-Z in 2008, Roc Nation currently boasts the likes of Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Megan Thee Stallion and A$AP Rocky on its management roster.
M.I.A.’s latest comments about Jay-Z have emerged amid the rapper being accused of raping a 13-year-old girl with Diddy in 2000 in a new lawsuit.
In a statement issued via Roc Nation, the artist (real name Shawn Carter) called the allegations “heinous in nature” and dismissed them as a “blackmail attempt”. He has implored lawyer Tony Buzbee to file the lawsuit as a “criminal complaint, not a civil one”.
“Whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away, would you not agree?” Carter wrote. “These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case.”
He continued: “My only heartbreak is for my family. My wife and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims, and explain the cruelty and greed of people.
“I mourn yet another loss of innocence. Children should not have to endure such at their young age. It is unfair to have to try to understand inexplicable degrees of malice meant to destroy families and human spirit.”
The rapper has since filed a court letter seeking the dismissal of the lawsuit while maintaining his innocence.
Last night (December 9), Jay-Z made a surprise appearance at the LA premiere of Mufasa alongside his wife and daughter, Beyoncé and Blue Ivy Carter – both of whom star in the film.
