▁Roland ▁MC - 5 0 5 ▁sequ encer / d rum ▁machine ▁which ▁she ▁used ▁to ▁make ▁a ▁demo ▁t ape ▁that ▁secured ▁her ▁a ▁contract ▁with ▁British ▁label ▁X L ▁Record ings . ▁ ▁M . I . A .' s ▁debut ▁studio ▁album , ▁Ar ular , ▁was ▁initially ▁scheduled ▁to ▁be ▁released ▁in ▁September ▁ 2 0 0 4 , ▁but ▁the ▁release ▁was ▁delayed ▁by ▁six ▁months ▁due ▁to ▁problems ▁with ▁the ▁clear ance ▁of ▁samples ▁used ▁in ▁the ▁songs . ▁She ▁released ▁two ▁singles ▁and ▁a ▁mi xt ape ▁in ▁the ▁inter im . ▁Although ▁the ▁album ▁had ▁limited ▁commercial ▁success , ▁it ▁was ▁highly ▁regarded ▁by ▁music ▁critics ▁for ▁its ▁bl ending ▁of ▁gen res ▁such ▁as ▁gr ime , ▁hip ▁hop , ▁ra gg a ▁and ▁Brazil ian ▁ba ile ▁fun k , ▁and ▁for ▁its ▁polit ic ised ▁lyr ics . ▁Music ▁mag az ines ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁and ▁Europe ▁included ▁it ▁in ▁lists ▁of ▁the ▁best ▁albums ▁of ▁the ▁year , ▁and ▁it ▁was ▁nominated ▁for ▁the ▁Mercur y ▁Prize ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁Kingdom . ▁ ▁Her ▁second ▁album , ▁K ala , ▁was ▁released ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 7 ▁along ▁with ▁the ▁single ▁" Bo yz " ▁and ▁was ▁also ▁pra ised ▁by ▁critics , ▁drawing ▁more ▁extens ively ▁from ▁African , ▁T amil ▁and ▁Car ib bean ▁music . ▁It ▁proved ▁much ▁more ▁commer cially ▁successful ▁than ▁her ▁debut , ▁reaching ▁number ▁ 1 8 ▁on ▁the ▁US ▁Billboard ▁