M.I.A.

Released: August 8, 2007

Featuring: Afrikan Boy

Songwriter: Switch M.I.A. Diplo

Producer: Switch M.I.A. Diplo

[Verse 1: M.I.A.]
We do it cheap
Hide our money in the heap
Send it home and make 'em study
Fixing teeth
I got family, a friend in need
A hand to throw the gasoline
A mobile phone, hooked up to the scene
Hello, my friend, yes, it's me
Don't be scared, there's somethin' going on
I'm gettin' money, since I've grown
Could be dash, go out and hustle 'em
But, I hate money cause it makes me numb

[Chorus: M.I.A.]
Hustle, hustle, hustle
Grind, grind, grind
Why does everyone got hustle on their mind?
Hustle, hustle, hustle
Grind, grind, grind
Why does everyone got hustle on their mind?

[Interlude 1: Afrikan Boy]
You think its tough now? Come to Africa!
You think its tough now? Come to Africa!
You think its tough now? Come to Africa!
You think its tough now? Come to Africa!
You think its tough now? Come to Africa!

[Verse 2: Afrikan Boy]
Out there, we are grinding like pepper
You can catch me on the motorway
Selling sugar, water, and pepper
I rep Africa, not Miami
Hustle, hustle with M.I.A
I'm broke, I've got indefinite stay
You can't touch me, like leprosy
I hustle though from here to Sri Lanka
My mum told me to be an accountant
Bun that, I wanna work in a corner shop
Contact Sugu, he's got the contacts, mayne!
I'm illegal, I don't pay tax-tax
EMA, yes, I'm claiming that, that
Police, I try to avoid them
They catch me hustling they say, "Deport them!"

[Chorus: M.I.A.]
Hustle, hustle, hustle
Grind, grind, grind
Why does everyone got hustle on their mind?
Hustle, hustle, hustle
Grind, grind, grind
Why does everyone got hustle on their mind?

[Interlude 2: M.I.A]
Ugh! Afrikan Boy!
You know I'm big in Mozambique!
Hey-hey!

[Verse 3: M.I.A.]
Hello, my friend!
Hello, my friend!
Hello, my friend, yes, it's me!
Hello, my friend!
Hello, my friend!
Hello, my friend, yes, it's me!
4 by 3, 3 buy 3
Buy 1 song, get 1 free
Maybe me, a bootleg CD, color TV, or a DVD
We got barrels in the sea
It's big enough to take a whole family
We drum on it like
Jun cha cha ju gu ju gu cha!
Jun cha cha ju gu ju gu cha!
Come sit by me, let me tell you we
Don't do bling, but we do white-tee
Up some jungle, up some tree
One second, my phone's ringing
It's my friend, Habibi
He then went drop, called me
Cheap Moroccan, got no credit than me
Ya'll got less credit than me
I keep that tab at a shop like a G
Cause without me, there'll be no chocolate Hershey!

[Chorus: M.I.A.]
Hustle, hustle, hustle
Grind, grind, grind
Why does everyone got hustle on their mind?
Hustle, hustle, hustle
Grind, grind, grind
Why does everyone got hustle on their mind?

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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