returned to working with M.I.A. following a personal dispute. British rapper and singer
M.I.A. released her fourth album
Matangi in November 2013. Although it received generally positive reviews, it failed to match the commercial performance of her previous two albums. She considered it her most positive work, saying that there were "no complaints" on it, and claimed that it would be her last album. Tracks for the album were recorded in various locations around the world. M.I.A. used several different studios in Jamaica to record five songs which appear on the recording, including "Foreign Friend", which features a guest appearance by Jamaican
singjay Dexta Daps. "
Swords" was recorded during a trip to India. and led to
Matangi being the first of her albums to include no input from Diplo. In June 2016, however, M.I.A. visited the
Parklife music festival in
Manchester, where Diplo was performing as part of
Major Lazer, and the pair worked on the track, reportedly in the festival's car park. Diplo characterised the recording of the track, which included M.I.A. sending a new section of vocals to him at the last minute, as "done very much in [M.I.A.'s] style: complete chaos". M.I.A. reportedly wrote "
Borders" in two hours, the quickest she had ever written a song. The track "
Freedun" features vocals by former
One Direction member
Zayn Malik, although the two did not actually meet during its recording. M.I.A. stated that she had written the song at a much earlier date but had previously deemed it "a bit too mainstream sounding" for her to record, but that it was well-suited to the collaboration with Malik. She also stated that she had spoken to
Popcaan and
Rihanna about collaborating on the album, but that neither opportunity had come to fruition. ==Music and lyrics==