Sadly neither of us made it into a sunny field with a cider and some top musical acts this weekend (lucky if you did).

We did however pop along to an air-conditioned Southbank Centre in London to see what M.I.A was throwing down at her personally-curated Meltdown Festival.

Fresh from presenting a video chat with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, the Sri Lankan-born hip hop artist/producer was quizzed by youth ambassadors about her past and the future of politics and music during a Q and A called I am...MIA.

M.I.A (whose real name is Maya) is no stranger to tackling political issues in her work and said she was greatly enthused by the massive youth turnout in last week's general election.

"It's amazing that the youth are getting politicized," she said.

"Growing up in Sri Lanka, we used to all chip in and hire a television once a month for the whole street to watch.

"Once we moved to our flat in London, I couldn't escape the news as the TV and radio was always tuned in, so I thought why not talk about it?

"I felt informed to create music for myself to address things like the Iraq war."

Meltdown Festival Copyright: Meltdown Festival

The 41-year-old artist affirmed her belief that "the idea of music is to elevate yourself above politics and religion and communicate on a very basic level."

With this in mind she is now trying to figure out "how to be useful" as an artist going forward into the age of artificial intelligence (A.I) and the new global world community.

"It's an interesting time and we're at a crossroads of how music plays a part in this.

"Artists are at the cusp of embracing A.I. But what is political activism in A.I phase?

"I think, 'Should I make my next video in virtual reality?', instead of me. I find that sexy - new technology. I want to do things in a way that aren't the accepted route.

"I could take the hippy route of singing to people face-to-face..or I could stream my virtual shows to people's bedrooms around the world so you can be at my show wherever you are."

She added: "The amount of data A.I can pick up on is so fast growing that the future me will be way better anyway!

Quote Message: But will the future me be less politicized to appeal to the most people possible? Because of my political stance I get told 'you'll be punished economically'. We have to make that decision." But will the future me be less politicized to appeal to the most people possible? Because of my political stance I get told 'you'll be punished economically'. We have to make that decision."

The Paper Planes star treated Meltown attendees to a vast-range of shows this weekend from "outlaw musicians" (as Maya puts it) like Scottish hip-hopper Young Fathers and Belgian electo-rockers Soulwax.

The festival continues until 18 June with grime star Giggs performing tonight, Canadian electro duo Crystal Castles on Friday and US rapper Young M.A on Saturday.