M.I.A. Discussed The Refugee Crisis With NPR

During a recent NPR interview, M.I.A. detailed her own experience leaving Sri Lanka as a child to head to the U.K. The singer also talked about the hypocrisy implicit in the west's anti-refugee rhetoric: "As a musician, I feel like we are part of promoting ideas to people," she explained. "You know, ultimately we fight to get what we do in the West into the homes and the screens of every single person on the planet... If the West is so deliberate in promoting its brands and is using art and culture to inspire people's dreams, how can the West then turn people away?"

In addition, M.I.A. pointed out, "You don't put borders on Apple, or YouTube or MTV. So to make the borders even taller when actually what the creative world is doing, or the business world is doing, is the opposite, then you're always going to have this problem."

Listen to the conversation below, and read the singer's FADER interview.