M.I.A.

Released: October 28, 2008

Featuring: JAY-Z

Songwriter: JAY-Z Switch M.I.A.

Producer: Switch M.I.A.

[Intro: Jay-Z]
M.I.-M.I.-M.I.A
M.I.-M.I.-M.I.A.!
M.I.A
M.I.-M.I.-M.I.A.!
Soldiers, stomp!
Soldiers, stomp!
Soldiers, stomp!
Soldiers, stomp!
Come On! Come On! Come On!

[Hook: M.I.A.]
Nannanananananana
Boys there
How many?
Boys there
How many? [x4]

[Verse 1: M.I.A.]
How many tequilas in the place?
How many beers are in the case?
Boys there, how many?
Boys there, how many?
How many Dutty Wine swing it away?
How many shots without a chase?
Boys there, how many?
Boys there, how many?
How many mash up and in a haze?
How many wacky dip fall the head?
Boys there, how many?
Boys there, how many?

[Bridge: M.I.A.]
How many no money
Boys are crazy?
How many boys are raw?
How many no money
Boys are rowdy?
How many start a war? [x2]

[Verse 2: Jay-Z & M.I.A.]
How many soldiers are ready to fight, how many ready for war?
How many sick of them, how many pricks, how many ready for more?
How many people say nothing, one idiot says it all?
How many people get frustrated waiting for Bush to fall?
How many soldiers are ready to fight, how many ready for war?
How many niggas get locked up for drugs, the government slinging that oil
How many billions does it take before the troops are home?
How many banks gotta collapse to know what you doing is wrong?
Gotta get Bush out the chair (yeah)
Give Obama the floor (yeah!)
Fuck it! Let's bring back Reagan
At least he was getting that raw
These politicians don't give a shit
The hood's still getting ignored
Gotta get paid now
For all the of the days before it got sprayed
Can you put your dogs away?
Can I get paid now?
How much we continue to move the white
Triple the A or the B like math
How many?
Pedal like bikes
How many?
Just to wheelie through life
American Dream don't last through the night
American pie, can I get a slice?
American Dream don't last through the night
American pie, can I get a slice?

[Outro: Jay Z]

What we do now?
Duppa bounce
Dem der duppa bounce [x4]

Oh gosh it's the new warlord!

[Hook x2]

[Bridge x2]

Oh gosh it's the new warlord!

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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