M.I.A.

Released: August 8, 2007

Songwriter: Blaqstarr Switch M.I.A.

Producer: Switch M.I.A.

[Intro]
A-ni-ni-ni-ni
A-ni-ni-ni-ni
A-ni-ni-ni-ni
A-ni-ni-ni-ni
A-ni-ni-ni-ni
A-ni-ni-ni-ni
A-ni-ni-ni-ni

[Verse 1]
Sick of all the shit that's keeping me down
If you're dead from the waist down
It's easy staying down
I never thought about it twice
But you do pay the price
It ain't your weekly cash
That feeds my mum the rice

[Verse 2]
Yo, don't be calling me desperate
When I'm knocking on the door
Every wall you build
I'll knock it down to the floor

[Pre-Hook]
See me, see me bubbling quietly
See me, see me acting like you ain't met me
See me, see me bubbling quietly
See me, see me acting like you ain't met me

[Hook x2]
Hands up! (a-ni-ni-ni-ni)
Guns out! (a-ni-ni-ni-ni)
Represent (a-ni-ni-ni-ni)
The world town (a-ni-ni-ni-ni)

[Chant x2]
Hands up!
Guns out!
Represent
The world town!

[Chant 2 x4]
Represent the World Town

[Verse 3]
Look at what you done, you done it before
Every little dollar just keeps me down more
I never had you on my side, bubbling on my side
Why they tell me different when they make me explodified

[Verse 2]
Yo, don't be calling me desperate
When I'm knocking on the door
Every wall you build
I'll knock it down to the floor

[Pre-Hook]
See me, see me bubbling quietly
See me, see me acting like you ain't met me
See me, see me bubbling quietly
See me, see me acting like you ain't met me

[Hook x2]
Hands up! (a-ni-ni-ni-ni)
Guns out! (a-ni-ni-ni-ni)
Represent (a-ni-ni-ni-ni)
The world town (a-ni-ni-ni-ni)

[Chant x2]
Hands up!
Guns out!
Represent
The world town!

[Chant 2 x4]
Represent the World Town

[Hook x2]
Hands up! (a-ni-ni-ni-ni)
Guns out! (a-ni-ni-ni-ni)
Represent (a-ni-ni-ni-ni)
The world town (a-ni-ni-ni-ni)

[Chant x2]
Hands up!
Guns out!
Represent
The world town!

[Chant 2 x4]
Represent the World Town

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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