M.I.A.

Released: August 8, 2007

Songwriter: Jonathan Richman Ilaiyaraaja M.I.A. Switch

Producer: M.I.A. Switch

[Intro]
Road runner, road runner
Going hundred miles per hour
Road runner, road runner
Going hundred miles per hour
With your radio on
With your radio on
Road runner, road runner
Going hundred miles per hour
With your radio on
With your radio on

[Verse 1]
Somalia, Angola, Ghana, Ghana, Ghana (Hey-yah!)
India, Sri Lanka, Burma, bamboo banga (Hi-yah!)
This the bamboo banga (Woo-woo!)
I said bamboo banga (Woo!)
This the bamboo banga (Woo-woo!)
I said bamboo banga (Woo!)
And we're hittin our racquets like a tennis player (Cha-ta-ta)
And the drummers do the shit like the Macarena (Da-ta-ta)
This the jungle banga (Ha-ha!)
Or the cold jammer (Hah-ha!)
I said jungle banga (Hah-ha!)
I said cold jammer (Hah-ha!)
This jungle banga (Pah-pa!)
I said cold jammer (Pah-pa!)

[Verse 2]
Yeah, I'm bored of banana, I want guanabana (Guanabana)
I wanna warm my buns this summer, summer, summer, summer (Summer, summer)
Now I'm sittin' down chillin on gun powder (Gun Powder)
Strike match, light fire (Ha-ha-ha!)
Who's that girl called Maya? (Ha-ha-ha!)
M.I.A. coming back with power-power (Power-power!)
M.I.A. coming back with power-power (Power-power!)
I said M.I.A. is coming back with power-power (Power-power!)
M.I.A. coming back with power-power (Power-power!)

[Hook]
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga

[Verse 3]
I'm knocking on the doors of your hummer-hummer
Yeah, I'm knocking on the doors of your hummer-hummer (Woo-wooo)
Yeah, I'm knocking on the doors of your hummer-hummer (Woo-wooo-wooo)
Yeah, I'm knocking on the doors of your hummer-hummer (Woo-wooo, woo-wooo-wooo)
Yeah, we're hungry like the wolves hunting dinner-dinner (Waa, Woo-waa)
And we're moving with the packs like hyena-ena (Woo-waa, Woo-waa)
Barbarella look like she's my dead ringer (Ha!, Ha!)
When I'm dogging on the bonnet of ya' red Honda (Ha!)
I'm a road runner (Woah)
I'm a world runner (Huh)
I'm a road runner (Woah)
I'm a world runner (Huh)

[Hook]
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga

[Bridge]
M.I.A. coming back with power-power (Power-power!)
M.I.A. coming back with power-power (Power-power!)
M.I.A. coming back with power-power (Power-power!)
M.I.A. coming back with power-power (Power-power!)

[Hook]
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga
I'm big timer
It's the bamboo banga

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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