M.I.A.

Released: July 15, 2016

Songwriter: Skrillex Charles Smith (NBA) M.I.A.

Producer: Blaqstarr Skrillex

[Intro]
No focus lost, I concentrate
And now you got it wrong
No focus lost, I concentrate
And now you got it wrong

[Verse 1]
People love position
So I stay way up on a level
Like my name is Neymar and you know I’m not normal
There is no competition
I’m gonna talk and you gonna listen
I’m on ten like men, even better than them
Yeah I don’t lose focus like a German called Sven
My third eye’s open and my focus ain’t joking
Yeah You got it wrong, cause my focus is so strong

[Chorus]
Run-pama pama pa-pama pama pama
No focus lost, I concentrate
And now you got it wrong
Go off on em
Go off on em
No focus lost, I concentrate
And now you got it wrong

[Verse 2]
Yeah I’m pressing buttons
Dropping pins on positions
Cause my words go far
And this rain is so foreign
You blow the place I live in while
Watch I could keep it going
Go off on em
Go off on em
So check up on your messages
Know what the message is
Like aliens in villages
We’re here for all ages
Fans back home
Got my tracks bang on
Yeah you got it wrong
Cause my focus is so strong

[Chorus]
Run pama pama pa-pama pama pama
No focus lost, I concentrate
And now you got it wrong
Go off on em
Go off on em
No focus lost, I concentrate
And now you got it wrong
Go off on em
Go off on em
No focus lost, I concentrate
And now you got it wrong

[Bridge]
At least you tell your children I came from London
Start talking about me long time like she was random
When I was in your life fella, I was hella bomb
But I had to go off just to stay strong

[Chorus]
Run pama pama pa-pama pama pama
No focus lost, I concentrate
And now you got it wrong
Go off on em
Go off on em
No focus lost, I concentrate
And now you got it wrong
Go off on em
Go off on em

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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