Following her highly successful sophomore release, Kala, which yielded a top-five single (“Paper Planes”) and an Academy Award nomination, M.I.A. abruptly canceled her 2008 tour midway through to announce that she would instead be working on her third full-length, /\\/\\/\\Y/\\ (MAYA). Her first album to be released on her own N.E.E.T. record label, Maya features production from Blaqstarr, Switch, and Diplo, among others.