By Alex Gonzalez

Barack and Michelle Obama.  Oprah Winfrey.  Tom Hanks.  M.I.A.  Ted Turner.  A.R. Rahman.  What do they all have in common?  They are all on Time Magazine's latest list of the Top 100 Most Influential People.  The only two contemporary artists that even made the list are M.I.A. and R&B star John Legend.   That is some exclusive company.  When the magazine hits stores, be sure to pick it up, especially since M.I.A. happens to be on the cover with some of the world's most influential world leaders, scientists, entertainers, and heroes.

For each person who made the list, there is a piece written on them by another famous person.  For M.I.A., critically acclaimed movie and music video director Spike Jonze wrote about he thought of M.I.A.  Spike finds it ironic that M.I.A. made a list like this when she did not intend to be influential in the first place.  Perhaps that's one of the qualities that makes her so interesting to watch and listen to.

"The great thing about her is that she doesn't have some global plan," Spike Jonze said.  "She just has things she cares about and is interested in, from all over the world." 

Spike Jonze goes on to talk about the time he first met M.I.A. and the profound, albeit unintentional, impact she left on him and how that same impact is being left on the world.

"Last summer she was performing in Philadelphia, and she showed up at the venue, and it was an armory building. She felt kind of weird about it and decided she wasn't going to perform there unless she acknowledged that, so she found a group of Army veterans against the Iraq war and had them come and speak as her opening act. That's her mission - it's personal and evolving, focused but totally spontaneous. She's always for the underdog. And no matter how many times she's on the Grammys, she'll always see herself as the underdog," Spike Jonze said.

As for A.R. Rahman, his piece was written by Padma Lakshmi.  Rahman has sold more records than almost anyone in the world and has really become noticed by the rest of the world due to his work on the Academy Award winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire," winning two Oscars himself that night.  Lakshmi claims Rahman is synonymous with India and the sound it has produced.  Real Desis recognize real Desis!

"In India... where film and pop music are one, A.R. Rahman, 43, dominates the music industry so totally that he has supplied the sound track for a whole generation. He enjoys the godlike devotion of India's youth, but everyone from the street child who sweeps train platforms to the middle-aged doctor in Mumbai's posh Malabar Hill hums his tunes," Padma Lakshmi said.

Padma Lakshmi was able to sum up Rahman's career in only a few short sentences, hard considering the immense body of work that A.R. Rahman has accumulated.  She even goes as far as to call him "The Mozart of Madras."  Is there even a higher compliment that you can give to a composer?

All in all, these were well written pieces and yet another overall exceptional list.  M.I.A. and A.R. Rahman both deserve the accolades that they have received and we hope their influence continues to be as strong as it has been for years and years to come.  Making a list like this is not easy feat, but it is so cool to know that a couple of Desis are influential in the overall consciousness of the world.  Congratulations!

You can see a video clip here of M.I.A. talking with Time Magazine at the photo shoot.  In the meantime, post your comments about M.I.A. and A.R. Rahman joining this elite company and what that means for Desis everywhere.