The internet has been in a state of pants wetting confusion today, reacting in both positive and negative ways to the release of a new nine minute video clip from serial hip hop provocateur M.I.A..

In case you’ve not caught it yet, the new clip is for a new M.I.A. tune by the name of Born Free from her third album (due out on June 29th) and somehow manages to be as painful on the ears as Bird Flu was. But the song’s not what has grabbed people by the nutsack and got them talking, twittering and the like, indeed it’s the clip itself, which is more of a short film, detailing the fictitious war on redheads.

In the clip, which you can see below, Born Free with all its clattering production and wailing banshee vocals soundtracks footage of a riot squad on the hunt for gingers, rounding up a Trent from Punchy look-alike and then taking a cast of redheaded teenagers (a gaggle of gingers? A raft of rangas?) out to the desert for some very graphic torture.

The clip has been put together by French firestarter Romain Gavras, the same guy who was responsible for Justice’s Stress video. Perhaps because of that, Born Free definitely suffers from a hangover of familiarity, no matter how much shock and gore Gavras and M.I.A. throw at us – including for dismembered bodies and fat people fucking. What’s more, after Lady Gaga hit us with the clip for Telephone – which coincidentally caught the ire of M.I.A. herself – watching a nine minute music video that’s devoid of Telephone’s tongue in cheek humour (read: Beyonce driving the ‘Pussy Wagon’) yet comes off as equally artificial is a hard sell.

That said, we watched it all, and now, whaddya know, we’re talking about it on a large public forum, so the video has effectively done its job and M.I.A.’s people will be jumping for joy at all this chatter. For those who have watched it, what’re your thoughts on it? Did you dig it? Did it make you excited to hear from M.I.A again? For anyone sitting on the fence, watch the full nine minutes of redhead genocide in the clip below and tell us what you think.