M.I.A.

Dance dammit dance
I rule
Dance dammit dance
I rule
Dance dammit dance
I rule
Dance dammit dance
I rule

I was bored
I needed new drugs
An' everybody bitin' shit
Is gettin' fucked up
M.I.A. rollin' wit Blaqstarr
Anyone talking shit
I'm gonna blow em up

Who's mad, who's crazy, who's fucked up?
It's about time I rack em all up
More fire, more power, more wound up
I'm the queen of this shit
Don't bother steppin' up

Dance dammit dance
I rule
Dance dammit dance
I rule
Dance dammit dance
I rule
Dance dammit dance
I rule

What I got you can't get from ya mama
What I got you can't get from ya ho
What I got you can't get from ya mama
What I got you can't get from ya ho

I got alien aphrodisiacs
Found visiting planets of the zodiac
Got a six pack so you don't get side track
Be in Baltimore tonight on the amtrack

Got a Mac with PCP for ya lap
Same effects as LSD and smack
Boom boom I'm bringin you the new crack
Like a club track made from Iraq

What I got you can't get from ya mama
What I got you can't get from ya ho
What I got you can't get from ya mama
What I got you can't get from ya ho
What I got you can't get from ya mama
What I got you can't get from ya ho
What I got you can't get from ya mama
What I got you can't get from ya ho

Get to you in high tech pro tool
Woop woop chop screw in hotels
Club cars in the street front of people
At home we can play some scruples
But tonight I'll wait 'til the nightfall
Like a ninja glide over waterfalls
Get to you to give you a lil rock and roll
Tap tap that bed to the wall
Tap tap that bed to the wall
Tap tap that bed to the wall
Tap tap that bed to the wall

What I got you can't get from ya mama
What I got you can't get from ya ho
What I got you can't get from ya mama
What I got you can't get from ya ho
What I got you can't get from ya mama
What I got you can't get from ya ho
What I got you can't get from ya mama
What I got you can't get from ya ho
What I got you can't get from ya mama
What I got you can't get from ya ho

Dance dammit dance
'Cause I rule
Dance dammit dance
'Cause I rule
Dance dammit dance
'Cause I rule
Dance dammit dance
'Cause I rule

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.

more tracks from the album

Kala

From the album

Kala (2007)

M.I.A. popular songs

What I GotM.I.A.

M.I.A.

Kala