Hipster fave-turned-crossover pop star M.I.A. has found a constructive, natural way to alleviate her frustration with Verizon tech support: turn it into song. Her new album due this summer will include the track “I’m Down Like Your Internet Connection”, which is inspired by three-hour tech support calls to the telecom giant. M.I.A., though, took said inspiration one step further and invited the actual Filipino Verizon workers to sing the hook on the track.
She tells Rolling Stone, “I was having issues with my cable and wireless, and I was on the phone [with tech support] for three hours, and I thought, ‘Maybe this needs to be part of my music, could you just learn these lyrics and sing it down the phone to me?’ Ten phone calls later, I have Internet that sticks and a song.”