M.I.A. clarifies comments on Beyonce and Black Lives Matter... or tries to, anyway

M.I.A. saw backlash from both Black Lives Matter activists and the Beyhive this week after comments she made about Beyoncé's Black Panther-inspired Super Bowl performance.

In an interview with London's Evening Standard magazine, the singer -- who is no stranger to Super Bowl controversy -- was asked what she thought of Beyoncé's performance this year. She admitted she hasn't seen it, but it didn't stop her from weighing in.

"It’s interesting that in America the problem you’re allowed to talk about is Black Lives Matter. It’s not a new thing to me — it’s what Lauryn Hill was saying in the 1990s, or Public Enemy in the 1980s," she said.

"Is Beyoncé or Kendrick Lamar going to say Muslim Lives Matter? Or Syrian Lives Matter? Or this kid in Pakistan matters? That’s a more interesting question. And you cannot ask it on a song that’s on Apple, you cannot ask it on an American TV program, you cannot create that tag on Twitter. Michelle Obama is not going to hump you back."

Naturally, those comments didn't go over too well -- so she took attempted to clarify them on Twitter Thursday.

But for many in the Black Lives Matter movement, that didn't clarify much at all. Activists like DeRay McKesson spoke out about M.I.A.'s suggestion that they have been "allowed" to speak up.  

A representative for M.I.A. has not responded to Mashable's request for comment. 

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