"Bucky Done Gun", as writer W. H. from
Spin notes, led to
Brazil being where M.I.A. had enjoyed her most remarkable resonance after the release of
Arular. The song became a hit on
MTV Brasil after its release, a first for the
indigenous music scene of the
favelas or urban ghettos in
Rio de Janeiro. She stated in an interview from the country during her
Arular Tour "There's a big divide between the classes.
Favela Funk is seen as music of the poor people, and 'Bucky' is the first time they've played that sound on commercial radio. It's my first visit here and it's mayhem - me turning up at a funk ball is a big deal. It's kinda complicated." Critics have praised the development as encouraging and reflective of the emerging new reality, "the idea of
populist art and populist technology dissolving cultural borders not with some
Eurocentric stand-up-for-love sap ballad, but with a politicised 'let's fuck' anthem by a
British Sri Lankan, produced by a
Mississippi-born American DJ using a Rio de Janeiro ghetto groove." Hattie Collins of
The Guardian highlights M.I.A. as a baile funk/
political pop pioneer with the release paving the way for bands
CSS and
Bonde do Rolê to emerge in her wake. The musician
Mike Shinoda of
alternative rock bands
Linkin Park and
Fort Minor highlighted the song as the latter band's anthem during the European leg of their 2005 tour. A remix of the song was played by
DJ AM and
Travis Barker during the
2008 MTV Video Music Awards. The song was named the 215th best song of the decade by
Pitchfork. ==Track listings and formats==