Three Cheers For Iyah May

Australian singer-songwriter Iyah May garnered widespread attention after her latest track, “Karmageddon,” went viral on social media. She revealed that her management dropped her for refusing to change lyrics that branded Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide.”

In late 2024, the manager dropped May as she refused to change specific lyrics of the song. She revealed this on her Instagram in November.

In the song, May rails against “big pharma,” a “man-made virus,” “cancel culture,” and a war that she brands “genocide,” referring to Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Erasing any doubt about the lyrical targets, May’s website describes the track as “addressing the pandemic narrative, corruption within political, pharmaceutical, and health institutions, the Israel-Palestine conflict, violence against women and the social chaos that has swept through the world in the past few years.”

“While Karmageddon has sparked significant conversation and controversy, Iyah has stood her ground,” the website shares. “She refused to compromise her vision when asked to change a key lyric line, leading to the end of her contract with her manager. She chose to walk away from her record label and now, fully independent, Iyah continues to carve her own path as an artist.”

In the song, May says, “More than war, it’s genocide” and “Kids are killed from Israel’s actions.”

Despite losing her contract and manager, May’s Karmageddon has gone viral receiving support and likes from everywhere. On her Instagram, she expressed her gratitude to the people who supported her by saying:

“Thank you for getting behind this track with me. It’s been a journey to get this song out there and there were people who tried to stop this from happening.”

Raised in Far North Queensland in a tiny rainforest village in Australia, May pursued medicine in New York, where she met rapper Shaggy by coincidence and performed for him, accoridng to reports. Thus, setting the path for a music career as well. Before taking on the stage name ‘Iyah May’, she performed under the name, “Mayah”.

The track has caught the attention of those on the right, with Ryan Fournier, a political activist and chair of Students for Trump, sharing a clip of the song on X, formerly Twitter.

CrossFireArabia

CrossFireArabia

Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

Related Posts

Handala in Ireland

In Ireland today, there is the statute of Handala, the Palestinian boy cartoon who refuses to turn around until Palestinian is liberated.

The sculpture in County Clare has been created by Irish artist Peloloca as an expression of solidarity with the Palestinian people and a dedication to the tens of thousands of children killed in Gaza by the Israeli war machine.

The statute, hoisted in early June 2026, is based on the character drawn by the late cartoonist Naji Al Ali created in 1969 to represent Palestinian dispossession.

Here is a word from Handala

My name is Handala. 

Grownups ask me what my name means. 
I tell them it is the name of a plant that grows in the harshest of conditions. Grownups always seem to need to have things explained for them.

I am from Palestine. 
I don’t live there anymore, but I will return.  
I’m always on the lookout for how soon I will. 

Some tell me I should pay less attention to what’s happening.  They say I should focus on something else. Change my clothes. Stop walking barefoot. 
Show my face before I go back home. 
I will never understand grownups.

What about you? 
I hope you’re not a grownup. 
I would love to know who you are, where you are from, what feelings run through your heart as you go to sleep.

My name is Handala. 
I am Palestinian. 
Will you be Palestinian with me?

Continue reading
Educator For The Arab World

The renowned Palestinian writer and poet Khalil al-Sakakini and his wife in the village of Artas in 1930. Anyone between the ages of 60 and the early 50s knows this towering figure in education who authored the Arabic language curriculum for all grades in the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula during their early years of independence. Students would reach the fifth grade able to read a newspaper fluently and without any errors or stammering, and they also possessed excellent writing skills.

Then, these curricula were replaced with others, and now we see many students graduating from university with stumbling over their reading, not to mention their spelling mistakes and poor handwriting.

Continue reading

You Missed

Did Little Malak Deserve Death?

Did Little Malak Deserve Death?

Handala in Ireland

Handala in Ireland

Occupied Palestinian Territories in Crisis

Occupied Palestinian Territories in Crisis

Palestinian Journalists Under Attack – 55 Israeli Violations in May

Palestinian Journalists Under Attack – 55 Israeli Violations in May

Jordan Footballers Delighted For World Cup Matches

Jordan Footballers Delighted For World Cup Matches

World Cup: Trump, Political Footballing and Iran – A View From Amman

World Cup: Trump, Political Footballing and Iran – A View From Amman