M.I.A.

Released: September 9, 2016

Songwriter: Blaqstarr Richard X M.I.A.

Producer: Blaqstarr Richard X M.I.A.

Money money money
Work work work

[Hook]
Heeeeeeey are you ok ?
Tell em you’re not ok
Tell em you’re taking off work today
Are you ok ?
Ali are you ok?
Tell em you’re not gonna be working late

It’s been ages
Since you spent a day just
Don’t ignore your doctor’s orders
Now come here
Show me how you’re loving me

All work and no play
I think we need a holiday
All work and no play
Tell em it’s your birthday

All your best days are given to your boss way
Tell em you’re working on us today
Do you wanna be running after money
Or be home hanging with your honey?
Now come here, show me how you’re loving me

All work and no play
I think we need a holiday
All work and no play
Tell em it’s your birthday

Ali I haven’t even seen you since we left Calais
You’ve been so busy
It’s driving me crazy

You know I gotta be grinding
Sorry if I’m flaking
All this money that I be taking
I’m just shaking what Im making
I’m sending bread and bacon
Back home so they can
Fix what's broken
So baby don’t be hating
If you need vacation
Please be patient
I’m thinking generation
Coz it’s my obligation

All work and no play
I think we need a holiday

One of the most musically-diverse and perplexing artists of the 2000s, Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam is arguably the decade’s best representation of Hip-Hop in its truest form and artistry in its broadest, most diverse format. Her lyrics are as political as Public Enemy, her sound is more eclectic than Stankonia-era Outkast, and she is as aesthetically-driven as Kanye West.

The road that M.I.A. was forced to travel to international stardom was not an easy one. Born on July 18th, 1975 in Hounslow, West London to Sri-Lankan Tamil immigrants, she moved to her parents' homeland when she was only six months old. However, it was the Sri Lankan Civil War which came to shape her childhood. During her formative years, she witnessed many her father was hunted as an enemy of the state, her schools were bombarded, and her impoverished family was constantly in hiding. In 1986, her family moved back to London to find stability and a sense of relative peace.

In England, she discovered her artistic talents and completed several years of secondary education in fine art – eventually gaining attention as a visual artist, painter, and musician. In the early-2000s, Maya began to seriously explore her musical talents and used the internet and underground radio as the means to build her reputation as a unique and talented firebrand. Amidst her no-nonsense politics, however, critics from around the world heard a talent in the making.

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