/\/\ /\ Y /\ (album)

/\/\ /\ Y /\ is the third studio album by M.I.A. which was released on 7 July, 2010.

Background
English-Tamil musician M.I.A. (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam) released her second album Kala in 2007, which achieved widespread critical acclaim, and was certified gold in the United States and silverin the United Kingdom.[2]] [3] Six months after giving birth to her son Ikyhd in February 2009,[4]  she began composing and recording her third studio album in a home studio section of the Los Angeles house she had bought with her partner Ben Bronfman.[5]  She used instruments such as the portable dynamic-phrase synthesizer Korg Kaossilator to compose.[6]  She took the beat machine and began recording atop Mayan pyramids in Mexico.[7]  Much of the work on the album was undertaken at her house in Los Angeles, in what she called a " commune environment ",[8]  before it was completed in a rented studio in Hawaii.[9]  She collaborated with writer-producer Blaqstarr because, in her opinion, " he simply makes good music".[10]]  M.I.A.'s collaboration with Derek E. Miller of Sleigh Bells on the track "MEDS AND FEDS" prompted her subsequent signing of the band to her label N.E.E.T., and according to Miller, this experience gave him the confidence to record the band's debut album Treats.[11] [12

Her creative partnership with the comparatively unknown Rusko grew from a sense of frustration at what she saw as her now more mainstream associates suggesting sub-standard tracks due to their busy schedules.[5]  Diplo worked on the track "[[TELL ME WHY]]", but at a studio in Santa Monicarather than at the house. He claimed in an interview that, following the break-up of his personal relationship with M.I.A. some years earlier, he was not allowed to visit the house because "her boyfriend really hates me".[13]

Tracks for the album were whittled down from recording sessions lasting up to 30 hours.[9]  Producer Rusko, who played guitar and piano on the album, described the pair getting " carried away " in the studio, appreciating the " mad distorted and hectic " sound they were able to create.[9]  Rusko said "She's got a kid, a little one year old baby, and we recorded his heart beat. We'd just think of crazy ideas".[9]  Rusko has described M.I.A. as the best artist he has ever worked with, saying that she had " been the most creative and I really had a good time making music with her ".<sup id="cite_ref-14">[14]]