Cultural Impact
Amy Phillips of Pitchforkmedia noted, following M.I.A's performance of "Galang" mashed up with "Lip Gloss" by Lil' Mama at the Terminal 5 club, CMJ Music Marathon, KALA Tour, how "Galang" served as a reminder of how much the mainstream pop, dance, rap musical landscape had shifted since M.I.A first appeared in 2004 with songs from Arular, highlighting megahits such as Fergie's "London Bridge" as having come to resemble M.I.A's sound. Steve Yates of The Guardian highlights the similarity between the latter and "Galang", which the head of Interscope Records Jimmy Iovine described as another case of M.I.A inspiring other artists. Resemblances between "Galang" and Beck's 2005 track "Clap Hands" have been noted by music critics, as have similarities between the video and artwork to that of Rihanna's 2010 hit "Rude Boy".
The uploading of "Galang" on social networking site MySpace in 2004 and its video's subsequent release and propagation led to the song and "Sunshowers" becoming the web's first viral successes and have contributed towards M.I.A's reputation as being "several miles" ahead of the pack in the music industry. Described as a new raver "before it was old", she is often praised for having triggered the genre and aesthetic into music in the mid 2000s. Hattie Collins of The Guardian noted how the songs of the album showcased M.I.A as a quirky female singer/rapper "before the Mini Allens had worked out how to log on to MySpace." When asked by Craig McLean of Spin about how she felt towards paving the way for Lily Allen's success, the singer was quoted as saying "she works with the same sort of sound, similar vibes to it, you just make a template. Of course, if you're the first one to do it it's really hard" but added that her familiarity with being an outsider and the privilege of artists such as Allen meant she was not frustrated that others had taken her template and sold more records with it, noting "I'm used to dealing with those situations better." Eddy Lawrence of Time Out commented how "Galang" alongside M.I.A's other releases helped make the singer a carnival queen and everyone's favourite "grime/electro/ravehall artist – beloved of the broadsheet fashionistas yet simultaneously patron saint and pin-up for the Day-Glo nu-rave kids." In December 2011, "Galang" was ranked number 12 on Time Out's list of the "100 best London songs" ever released.
Read more about this topic: Galang (song)
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