With songs entitled "Bamboo Banga," "Bird Flu," and "Mango Pickle Down River," M.I.A.'s most recent album, Kala, promises attention-grabbing, exotic reverberations before the tracks even begin to play.

M.I.A., whose real name is Maya Arulpragasam, has gained fame in the United States because her single "Paper Planes" was featured in the trailer for this past summer's hit film "Pineapple Express."

The song, which features a hook with gunshot and cash register sound effects is, according to Entertainment Weekly, a satire of society's fear of immigrants.

"I think she's just very fresh," said junior Jaclyn Golia. "She started out barely knowing how to use a turn-table."

Kala as a whole has received varied reviews. Amazon.com said that "there isn't a moment when it doesn't feel like you've unintentionally invited an entire carnival into your home."

The Hartford Courant said "Kala is pop music without the vapidity, and political music without the condescension."

Politics is an strong theme in Kala as well as in M.I.A.'s first album, Arular, using elements of world issues to span her album tracks. But to understand her interest in topics this heavy, it is necessary to explore M.I.A.'s personal background.

Rolling Stone describes how the Sri Lankan refugee had an unconventional childhood traveling between Sri Lanka and England due to a whirlwind of political strife that hit very close to home.

Her father, Arul Pragasam (namesake of her first album title), is the founder of revolutionary student group the Tamil Tigers that, said Rolling Stone, "became notorious for their suicide bombings."

M.I.A. has had to defend her music due to its association with violence and said, "I don't support terrorism and never have. As a civilian who fled war and bombings, my music is the voice of the civilian refugee."

Nevertheless, Kala is a mixture of sounds reflective of many cultures. Not surprising since, according to USA Today, it was recorded while traveling to India, Trinidad, Jamaica, Australia, and Japan.

Lately, though, many M.I.A. onlookers have been confused about the Sri Lankan-British rapper's future plans.

"This is my last show," said M.I.A. at Bonnaroo Music Festival this past June.

How can someone who was handpicked by Marc Jacobs to model for his ads, been offered movie roles, and has had two successful albums retire now?

Fortunately for fans, she is sticking around. The recently engaged artist is simply pregnant. Her fiancé, Ben Brewer, is the frontman for the band The Exit.

"When I found out I was pregnant and 'Paper Planes' was in the iTunes Top 10, it seemed like the whole world was reshuffled in one week, and all my plans went out the window," said M.I.A. in an interview with Pitchfork Media. "And that's a lesson…you can't make plans, and you can't say shit."

It seems that her planned "retirement" has transformed into a hiatus.

But for now, "I have to do the rounds-go see my family and show them my belly," said M.I.A.