AceShowbiz - M.I.A.'s headline slot at an open-air concert in New York on Saturday, July 24 had to be cut short amid fears the rapper would be electrocuted during a severe thunderstorm. Driving rain lashed the stage at the Hard NYC Party on Governors Island, and the "Paper Planes" hitmaker was forced to abandon her performance as forks of lightning lit up the sky.

But she refused to leave the stage after organizers cut off her sound - joining several of her bandmates to rap without any backing track for several minutes. Before ending her set, M.I.A. told fans the lightning could be a danger to the metal-framed stage, adding: "F**k that s**t."

She later blasted conditions at the event and even claimed the stage was disintegrating during her headline slot. In a post on her Twitter.com page, M.I.A. writes, "Money doesn't buy u s**t! I thought more money means better sound guys in America... I was wrong, the higher u go, they turn u lower (sic)!... That still didn't stop us! It's bigger then (sic) that!... f**k technology! Even the stage broke + parts of it fell off in the storm."