M.I.A.

Released: November 23, 2006

Songwriter: Switch R. P. Patnaik M.I.A.

Producer: Switch M.I.A.

[Verse 1]
Big on the underground, what's the point of knocking me down?
Everyone knows, I'm already good on the ground
Most of us stay strong, shit don't really bound us
Then I go on my own, making bombs with rubber bands

[Chorus 1]
I have my heart down so I need a man for romance
Streets are making 'em hard so they selfish little roamers
Jumpin' girl to girl,Make us meat like burgers
When I get fat I'll pop me out some leaders

[Verse 2]
Protocol to be a Rocawear model?
It didn't really drop that way, my legs hit the hurdle
Protocol to be a rocker on a label?
It didn't really drop that way, my beats were too evil

[Chorus 2]
Now I put away paper for later so I'm stable
A better something better come, gotta get cable
Ghetto pops, food drops, stored up in my stable
Pop 'em up, pop 'em down, eat 'em off the table

[Verse 3]
The village got on the phone, said the street is comin' to town
They wanna check my papers, see what I carry around
Credentials are boring, I burnt them at the burial ground
Don't order me about, I'm an outlaw from the badlands

[Chorus 3]
Put away shots for later, so I'm stable
Live in trees, chew on feet, watch Lost on cable
Bird flu gonna get you, made it in my stable
From the crap you drop, on my crop when they pay you

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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