She calls out Gavras on what could be a potential blatant rip of her work. The imagery is uncanny, but let’s play devil’s advocate for a second. Yes, the internet is for the most part “flat.” There is constant processing/reprocessing/regurgitation of imagery and information at a pace beyond our human capacity. We have little attachment to “origin” and much attachment to pure virtual self-curation. In the making of video, Gavras says, “we stumbled upon these videos on youtube,” when referring to the car stunts. He said he watched every one, and perhaps Al-Maria’s was one of them.

Link hopping, we lose ourselves in the images that tickle us the most, and at times, with little regard outside ourselves for who captured those moments best. That said, Al-Maria, it’s not about MIA wearing or doing it better, girl. You have some true archival brilliance going on. Such thoughtful musings on art and music, cultural critiques and a sense of humor.

But on the real, can’t we just say that Tokyo got their pop drift on first?