Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Matangi (album)/archive1

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The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted by Gog the Mild via FACBot (talk) 13 December 2022 [1].


Matangi (album)

Nominator(s): ChrisTheDude (talk) 17:03, 15 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thought I would give people a break from endless articles on Gillingham F.C. :-) Back in 2013 I successfully nominated this article for GA but I'm not sure why I never brought it to FAC as I had done with the artist's previous studio albums. So, nine years later, here it finally is..... -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 17:03, 15 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by FrB.TG

Comments to come soon FrB.TG (talk) 10:17, 16 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@FrB.TG: hope you are well, just wondering if you still hoped to take a look at this article....? -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 07:50, 26 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Hi there. I was waiting for Your Power to finish their review before I start mine.
  • Be consistent with the Oxford comma. Places like "Hit-Boy, Doc McKinney, Danja, Surkin and The Partysquad" use it while others like "Bring the Noize", "Come Walk with Me", and "Y.A.L.A." don't.
  • "reportedly featured input from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange" - reportedly indicates an expression of doubt when M.I.A. herself confirmed it. I see no reason that the artist herself would lie about something like this.
  • "The album received highly positive reviews from critics, many of whom cited it as a return to form" - whose return to form?
  • "She made a decision to" -> "She decided to"
  • However, she said it does not have "a tranquil flute massage sound." Full stop after the quotation mark after
    MOS:LQ
    .
  • "Despite an initial mixed review, Pitchfork ranked the album at number 46" - although the review and the ranking are both from Pitchfork, they came from different critics so I would leave the "mixed" part out. FrB.TG (talk) 11:35, 26 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@FrB.TG: - all done :-) -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 19:47, 26 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Support on prose. Good work. FrB.TG (talk) 20:01, 26 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Image and media review (pass)

Unfortunately, I will not be able to do a full prose review of the article, but I still wanted to help in some way. My comments on the images and audio sample are below:

  • File:MIA Matangi Cover.png has a clear purpose in the article and a complete WP:FUR. I would encourage you to add WP:ALT text.
  • For File:Matangi.jpg, I would alter the caption to avoid starting with "The artist" as I find that phrasing to be awkward. Shortening the image caption may also help prevent it from cutting across section headings. I would encourage you to add WP:ALT text to this image as well. Everything looks appropriate for the image on the Wikimedia Commons end.
  • File:Bad Girls - MIA.ogg needs a stronger justification for inclusion. It is encouraged to keep non-free media usage to a minimum and to the best of my understanding, audio samples should only be used in an album article if they are somehow representative of the album as a whole and illustrate something the prose cannot alone (like critics saying a certain song represents a genre, production choice, etc. throughout the entire album). This audio sample is more focused on the individual song rather than the album.
  • Do you think the article would benefit from including an image of M.I.A., preferably from around the album's release?
  • This is not related to the image or audio sample, but I was surprised that the article does not a legacy or impact section (á la
    1989
    ). Was there any kind of retrospective articles or analysis of this album?

I hope that this review was helpful. Apologies for not being able to do a full prose review. To summarize my comments above, I would encourage you to add

Aoba47 (talk) 16:08, 16 November 2022 (UTC)[reply
]

@
Aoba47: - thanks for your comments. I'll address the first three in due course but re: the last one, I couldn't find anything of note. The album was not a major success (only one week in the UK albums chart), is not one that has been a major influence on any other artists as far as I can see, did not boost M.I.A. to greater success like that Taylor Swift album did for her (her career was already on a downward trajectory, TBH), and has not really been written about in any significant way since its initial period of release. Her first album was featured in a book published years later called something like "Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" but nobody really looks at this one in the same way.... -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 16:14, 16 November 2022 (UTC)[reply
]
Thank you for the clarification. I was surprised because I remember
Aoba47 (talk) 16:19, 16 November 2022 (UTC)[reply
]
All other points now addressed -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 16:26, 16 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for addressing everything.
Aoba47 (talk) 17:03, 16 November 2022 (UTC)[reply
]

Comments Support from NØ

  • M.I.A. is addressed as a recording artist here, as a rapper and hip hop artist on previous album articles, and as a "rapper and singer" on her biography. I was curious which one you think is the most appropriate one and it should probably be consistent.
  • "Matangi did, however, top the US Dance/Electronic Albums chart" - I've been advised against the usage of "however" on some nominations
  • "The song "Y.A.L.A.", ..., was seen as a response to the slogan ..." - Was this the perception of critics? This could be more clearly stated
  • "Matangi was originally teased when M.I.A. posted a photo of herself in the studio in November 2011, on TwitPic" => "M.I.A. originally teased Matangi by posting a photo of herself in the studio on TwitPic in November 2011"
  • "Internationally, Matangi attained moderate impact on the charts, reaching number 47" - The middle part probably constitutes original research unless directly stated by a secondary source and should be removed. Which would leave this as "Internationally, Matangi reached number 47 ..."
Glad to see you take on something music related! That's all from me :-)--NØ 17:12, 16 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@MaranoFan: - all addressed! -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 19:08, 16 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support -- NØ 08:42, 17 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Elias

Hi Chris! With all the help you've extended in my previous two FACs I find it fair that I finally review one of yours :-) I have one up right now if you're interested!

  • Maaaany sources here need archive links. Some like the WaPo source and the RS source are dead.
    • I've replaced all the dead links. I'll keep trying to run the bot to archive the ones which aren't dead, but I don't believe this is a requirement for FAC..... -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 21:44, 23 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • Some OR concerns:
    • "M.I.A. Blasts Oprah..." does not explicitly say Maya tanked commercially compared to her previous albums. All we get is "M.I.A.'s new album /\/\ /\ Y /\ drops from No. 9 to No. 34 in its second week on the Billboard 200, selling 11,000 copies, according to Nielsen Soundscan (down 61%)."
    • The three sources cited before that do say that Maya received mixed-negative reviews as the current article implies, but none of them say that her albums before that received critical acclaim.
      • Sources replaced
  • The critical reception section could use work.
    • Too many quotations for comfort.
    • WP:RECEPTION
      try to consolidate similar comments from varying reviews instead of paraphrasing every review you used. In other words, summarize the reviews as a whole and not the reviews individually. For example, write "Gavin Haynes of NME and Alexis Petridis of The Guardian praised the album for its nonconformity to the characteristics of mainstream music" instead of paraphrasing whatever specific comments they made.
  • "Following this, the artist [M.I.A.]... The rapper [M.I.A.] has been..." -> let me preface this comment by saying that this is completely optional and you don't really have to implement it since a lot of it has to do with stylistic preference. I'm not a fan of
    WP:ELEVAR
    such as this one; this writing style is more for the realm of magazines and newspapers than encyclopedias. Either we use her name or her pronouns.
  • "experienced a period during which she struggled to find motivation to make music" this is a lot of words to simply say "Following this, M.I.A. struggled to find motivation for new music." Verbosity is a recurring aspect of this article - "originally teased", "the first by M.I.A.", "She eventually found initial inspiration".
  • "allegedly featured input... M.I.A. contended... who purportedly..." this is pretty strong and aggressive wording, portraying the claim that Assange helped M.I.A. with the album as something outrageous. Is there any reason why we should doubt whatever M.I.A. is saying about her own album's recording? Can't we simply say "M.I.A. said" ?
  • Pretty sure "western" and "eastern" have to be capitalized
  • What makes Metro an ok source to use here?
  • Some points on comprehensiveness:
    • Can we clarify in the prose (or in a footnote, if you wish) why M.I.A. and Diplo were in dispute? This seems like an interesting thing that begs to be explained.
    • For an album inspired heavily by Hinduism I expected to see which songs tackle the relevant themes. Which songs deal with karma, for example? Which songs incorporate the om chant? Are there any other themes explored on this album?
  • "noted for" see
    MOS:SAID
  • The last sentence of "Promotion" is way
    @
    What did I tell you?"
    📝 "Don't get complacent..." 10:42, 21 November 2022 (UTC)[reply
    ]
  • Ref 11 has "NME" in publisher but all other NME sources put it in work
  • "Stereogum writer" stereogum should be italicised

My primary concerns have to do with sourcing and the professional tone of the prose. I have not done a full spot check of the article references, but if anyone deems it necessary then by all means. Currently, I do not feel confident to offer my support - I am leaning oppose. Sincerely hope this gets addressed promptly - I may do a proper, full review of the article once these initial concerns are struck.

What did I tell you?"
📝 "Don't get complacent..." 08:12, 21 November 2022 (UTC)[reply
]

Continuing...

  • "Despite the positive critical reception and its inclusion in several year-end lists, its first-week sales were significantly lower than those of M.I.A.'s previous album, and its chart peak was lower in all major markets" see the OR concern above. Even if this were verified, commercial success and critical success are not mutually inclusive (look at whatever Drake is doing) so there is no need to contrast the two information.
  • Adding to comprehensiveness concerns:
    • I read in passing somewhere that M.I.A. infuses a lot of her music with political commentary. Can we clarify this context in the background so the last sentence of the "Recording" section does not seem random?
    • I read the Fader interview a bit and it tells me that M.I.A. was inspired by stories of female spirituality in particular while making the album. The article needs to elaborate on which songs tackle these themes in the "Music and lyrics" section. I can see that there are lots of tracks that have not been discussed here - maybe those are the songs that employ such themes?
    • "it was eventually pushed back by M.I.A.'s label, which claimed the record was 'too positive'." What is this supposed to mean? I'd elaborate or remove it altogether.
  • The phrase "music and lyrics" is synonymous with "composition" so rename "Composition and recording" to "background and recording"
  • Mentioning that Diplo provided no contributions to the album whilst failing to mention the album's many contributors which are listed in the lead feels off
  • This article is about Matangi. It is out of place to mention that "Bad Girls" first appeared in a mixtape before this album and that that version sounded different.
  • "which led M.I.A., whose real name is Mathangi [sic] Arulpragasam, to choose the latter as the album's official name." Three things
    • Why is there a [sic] there?
      • It was meant to reflect the fact that her name is not spelt exactly the same as the album title, but I guess it's no big deal so I removed it..... -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 15:43, 21 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
    • M.I.A. picking the album's title should be in "background and recording", not "release and artwork" IMO.
    • The cited Fact source does not explicitly state that M.I.A. chose Matangi as the title because it matches her real name. Other sources say she does, however, so replace the Fact one.
  • I have done copyediting (diff) on the article to address sentence length, verbose wording, active voice, and flow and cohesion of paragraphs. I added some information I found from the currently cited sources as well. Please feel free to make further amendments to these edits or revert some of them if you find them unhelpful.

My stance on the article's readiness for the bronze star remains, although I am glad to see swift progress. :)

What did I tell you?"
📝 "Don't get complacent..." 12:25, 21 November 2022 (UTC)[reply
]

@
Your Power: just as an update, I believe the only things outstanding are adding some more about lyrical themes and sorting out the archive links. I tried running the IABot to archive the existing sources but it didn't do anything, don't know if I am doing something wrong......? -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 09:14, 23 November 2022 (UTC)[reply
]
@ChrisTheDude: it tends to do that for me as well. Unfortunately it seems that someone would have to do the archiving manually. Anyways, I have done another round of copyediting+addition of new content in light of the recent additions you made to the article. As always feel free to revert ones with which you disagree. With that, some more comments - I am really sorry that my review has dragged this far!
  • "Her fans gave her two ideas" the tweet by itself seems to indicate it's the other direction?
  • I doubt PopCrush is a high-quality source to use here, which means that the bit about the "car imagery" (which that source supports) can be cut
  • The "Reviewing the album track by track..." line is barely understandable and IMO does not add anything of value to the article.
  • Re. third paragraph of reception section: again, the use of "noted" here is discouraged. Also I have difficulty tracking what that sentence is supposed to mean.
That should be all, hopefully Appreciate all the effort undertaken to tidy up this article. A bit of a tangent, but I've seen a lot of memes with the caption "live fast die young bad girls do it well" within the past two years, and it only occurred to me where that line came from after reading this article. Huh. The more you know.
What did I tell you?"
📝 "Don't get complacent..." 13:51, 23 November 2022 (UTC)[reply
]
All of those last few points addressed -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 22:02, 23 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@
Your Power: I think I have addressed every point above to the best of my ability, would you be able to re-visit.....? -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 09:03, 25 November 2022 (UTC)[reply
]
Hi @
What did I tell you?"
📝 "Don't get complacent..." 05:30, 26 November 2022 (UTC)[reply
]
@
Your Power: - I just deleted that claim as upon reflection I think it was questionable (it was only her fourth biggest hit in the UK, for example) and re-worked the sentence -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 07:35, 26 November 2022 (UTC)[reply
]

Alright, that last pressing concern has been addressed! After a lot of reading and commenting I am confident to say I can now support this article based on the prose quality and comprehensiveness. Nice work! Hope to see you work on more music articles soon; love to see you branching out into new topics.

What did I tell you?"
📝 "Don't get complacent..." 07:46, 26 November 2022 (UTC)[reply
]

@
Your Power: thanks for your support. Just to note, while I haven't done much related to music here at FAC, over at FLC I have successfully promoted over 80 music-related lists :-) -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 07:49, 26 November 2022 (UTC)[reply
]
DAMN. When I tell you my jaw dropped upon seeing that number... I see notifs about your FLs passing in places like the
What did I tell you?"
📝 "Don't get complacent..." 07:53, 26 November 2022 (UTC)[reply
]

Source review

Spotchecks not done

- Nikkimaria (talk) 14:48, 4 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Nikkimaria: - phew, all done now (I think!) -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 20:25, 4 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Still missing author for Fn67 - in cases like this it's reasonable to just list the author for the specific entry, although if you'd prefer all of them that's fine too. Nikkimaria (talk) 00:39, 5 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Nikkimaria: - done -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 08:39, 5 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Okay, good to go. Nikkimaria (talk) 00:23, 6 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Co-ordinator query

@WP:FAC coordinators: with three supports on prose and completed source and image reviews on this nom, would it be OK to start another one? -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 09:24, 6 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Yep. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 09:37, 6 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Aoba47

Apologies for not getting to this FAC earlier. I hope my comments below are helpful:

My comments are focused on the lead and the infobox, apart from a comment on an image. Once everything has been addressed above, I will read through the rest of the article and add more to my review. Best of luck with this FAC!

Aoba47 (talk) 03:44, 11 December 2022 (UTC)[reply
]

@
Aoba47: - done! -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 08:16, 11 December 2022 (UTC)[reply
]
  • I do not see this part (many of whom cited it as a return to form for M.I.A. compared to Maya (2010), her previous album) supported in the article. In the "Critical reception" section, I only see one critic (Jem Aswad of Spin) make this point.
  • Apologies if this is super obvious, but where is 2010–2013 recording dates sourced in the article? I am likely just reading over it, but I wanted to make sure it was present and sourced in the article.
  • I believe the first sentence of the "Background and recording" section would benefit from further revision. I would avoid using "works" in this way as I was told it is too vague, although I understand its use to avoid repeating "albums".
  • This part (Following this, she struggled) makes it seem like she struggled because of Maya's critical/commercial performance, but the citation has her saying she wanted to change her creative process which she found "really saturated and predictable".
  • Citation 4 is being used to support the Google Search sentence, but that information is not there and instead appears in Citation 5.
  • I believe the part on the deterioration of M.I.A.'s relationship with Diplo would benefit from further revision and clarity. A lot of information is pushed into one sentence and as someone on the outside, it is not very clear to me. For instance, I've never heard of the "critical article" in the
    New York Times
    so more information would be helpful.
  • The final sentence of the "Background and recording" section seems like it would make more sense in the "Release and artwork" section as it is more about the album's release than its recording.
  • For this part (ranked it the best song on M.I.A.'s four albums to date), I would avoid wording like "to date" as it could mean different things depending on when the readers sees it. I'd just say on "M.I.A.'s first four albums".
  • Would changing (the Hindu creation of the world) to (the Hindu creation myth) be helpful? I think a link would be beneficial and something about the current wording seems off to me.
  • I would not use (Meanwhile) as a transition outside of either plot summaries or discussing events happening at the same time.
  • For the Superbowl bit, why is only Madonna mentioned when M.I.A. was also performing with Nicki Minaj as well?
  • For this bit (a hit single by female duo), I would avoid using "hit" in this context as it is too informal for Wikipedia.
  • If the album does officially
    sample
    other tracks, why are none of these mentioned in the "Track listing" section?
  • For this part ("Atention" reportedly contains an uncredited sample of), I would attribute who reports this in the pose. Otherwise, it is unclear who is reporting this information (i.e. a critic, fans, other artists, etc.).
  • Do you think the "Paul Simon on acid" quote from Citation 38 would be beneficial to include in the article? I find it both interesting and reflective on how she thought the album sounded at that time.
  • The article only mentions Interscope Records releasing the album and doesn't mention N.E.E.T. Recordings in the prose.
  • I think the M.I.A. quote in the "Release and artwork" section could be paraphrased. I could understand some parts of the quote being used (like "too positive"), but I do not see the need for the entire quote.
  • I have a question about this part (The label responded by announcing the album's official release date as 5 November.). Since the album was ultimately released on 1 November, could the earlier release be mentioned in the prose?
  • The "Promotion" section appears to be missing some information (like about the music videos, the critical reception, live performances etc.). This section should be an overview of this information, but it feels like a lot is missing.
  • I would rewrite the first sentence of the "Promotion" section as I think there would be a better and clearer way to introduce this information. It reads like people should already be familiar with M.I.A.'s work and as someone who is not, it took me by surprise and I was confused by this "new recording" when the original recording was not introduced first.
  • For "Bad Girls", why is only (number 43 on the
    UK Singles Chart
    ) mentioned when it did chart elsewhere as well?
  • The "Promotion" section does not mention "Sexodus" being a single.
  • It seems rather random to only mention the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon performance when at least according to the "Y.A.L.A." article, she has performed other singles on other talk shows (i.e. The Colbert Report and Late Night with Conan O'Brien).

I hope these comments are helpful. My review goes up to the end of the "Promotion" section. I think you have done a lot of wonderful work with the article, but I do think the "Promotion" section needs a significant amount of work. I also think an audio sample would be very beneficial as M.I.A. has such a specific style and I have mentioned a few ways that this could be implemented in my image review. Best of luck with this FAC and I will continue my review once everything's addressed.

Aoba47 (talk) 16:34, 11 December 2022 (UTC)[reply
]

@
Aoba47: thanks for your comments. I have tried to address all of the above. I am slightly confused though when you say that the Promotion section should give an overview of critical reception. Do you mean it should summarise the critical reception section immediately below? Or am I misunderstanding.....? -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 21:20, 11 December 2022 (UTC)[reply
]
Thank you for your patience with my review and for addressing everything so far. That is a fair question. I meant more giving an overview on how the single was individually received in reviews as the critical reception section would be more focused on how the album was received as a whole. That being said, when I look through other album FAs, I do not see this kind of thing being done often so this could just be a matter of personal preference and I will leave that up to you.
Aoba47 (talk) 22:42, 11 December 2022 (UTC)[reply
]

This should cover everything, but I will read through the article a few more times tomorrow to just make sure I have not missed anything. Thank you again for your patience with my review, and I hope I am not being too much of a bother. It is great to see more representation in the FA -space. While I have tons of issues with M.I.A., I hope this FAC encourages editors to nominate more diverse styles of music in this space. Have a great rest of your weekend!

Aoba47 (talk) 22:48, 11 December 2022 (UTC)[reply
]

@
Aoba47: - all done bar Amazon. I couldn't find an alternative source for the specific release dates sourced to Amazon - should I just remove them? -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 09:16, 12 December 2022 (UTC)[reply
]
Thank you for addressing everything. Upon further reflection, the Amazon citations should be fine. It is preferable to have this information in the article in some capacity and since these citations already passed through the source review, they should not be an issue for my review.
Aoba47 (talk) 16:03, 12 December 2022 (UTC)[reply
]
@
Aoba47: - done - I had somehow failed to notice that there were initials at the end of each little write-up showing who specifically wrote it..... -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 16:15, 12 December 2022 (UTC)[reply
]
It happens to the best of us. That is the point of the FAC process anyway to point out these kinds of things we miss. That being said, I do not think the citation should have Leonie Cooper as the author since she is not the main author of the list and I believe the current structure gives that impression. I would not have an author attached to it because the publication did not specify any of the authors as the primary one in the by-line.
Aoba47 (talk) 16:19, 12 December 2022 (UTC)[reply
]
@
Aoba47: - OK, removed -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 16:22, 12 December 2022 (UTC)[reply
]
Thank you again for your patience with my review. I support this FAC for promotion based on the prose. If possible, I would greatly appreciate any feedback for
Aoba47 (talk) 16:31, 12 December 2022 (UTC)[reply
]


The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.