Piracy Funds Terrorism - Release and Reception

Release and Reception

An initial pressing of 1,000 copies of the mixtape was produced and given to M.I.A.'s record label. The label began sending the copies out as promotional recordings, prompting Diplo to ask for the remaining copies to be returned so that he could distribute them at shows and in clubs, which he felt was a more appropriate method of distribution for the mixtape. He stated that around 2,000 copies of the recording were produced in total.

Though it was never released through any official channel, the mixtape was widely reviewed by music publications. Robert Christgau, writing in The Village Voice, gave it an A- grade, but stated that he was more interested in hearing M.I.A.'s own original music than a mashup:

"I find more fascination—and pleasure, if not variety—in M.I.A. juxtaposed against herself than in, for instance, favela funk juxtaposed against 'Walk Like an Egyptian'. Which isn't to deny I also find all these good things in favela funk juxtaposed against 'Walk Like an Egyptian'."

Stylus Magazine described it as "a genre-bending adventure in shattered preconceptions and club killing beats" and said that, based on the strength of the mixtape, M.I.A.'s first official album had a lot to live up to. Tom Breihan writing in The Village Voice expressed relief that M.I.A.'s aesthetic and her debut album did not have much input from Diplo. Piracy Funds Terrorism achieved the number 23 spot on The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop poll of the best albums of the year, and number 12 on Pitchfork Media's 2004 end-of-year list. Pitchfork also placed Piracy Funds Terrorism at number 103 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.