What is a radical? It's the question of M.I.A.'s vexing career

"Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted."

"When the crowd voiced its disapproval, she clarified: "I am illegal. Half of my team are not here because they didn't get the visa, OK? Don't listen to what the bots say on the internet. Once you're this, you're always that. ... We should be above politics.""

"She hinted at such after the fact: "I wrote 'Borders' and 'Illygal' and 'Paper Planes' before you thought immigrant rights were cool. I've had thses [sic] battles by myself without the help of millions of fans backing me," she wrote in an online statement on Monday. "I don't need a virtue signal era to erase an entire life I've led.""

"The dismissal followed her May 2 performance on the tour's Dallas stop, where fans booed comments she made onstage first about having been "canceled" for supporting Republicans, and then a more cryptic line: "We can't do 'Illygirl,'" she said, referring to her 2010 track that played on the word "illegal" to tell a loaded immigration tale, "because some of you could be in the audience.""

A historical warning against assuming persecution when contradicted is contrasted with modern social media debate. M.I.A., a British rapper and singer, was removed from Kid Cudi’s Rebel Ragers Tour after a Dallas performance drew boos. The crowd reacted to comments about being “canceled” for supporting Republicans and to a statement about not performing “Illygirl” because some audience members could be affected by immigration realities. M.I.A. clarified that she is “illegal,” said parts of her team were absent due to visa issues, and urged people not to follow internet “bots.” She later referenced earlier songs about borders and immigration and rejected “virtue signal” framing.

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