M.I.A.

[Verse 1]
I mashed up a coconut outside by the back wall
Shoot my clothes on eating up my mango
Daddy was home, huntin' up the wild boar
Get your mama, quick got the polo
We had no idea we were cookin' for commando
Everybody came in 4-wheeler truckloads
Big head with players on the down low
Black coffee and fill in the info

[Hook]
And now we really rock now, we're macho
And that's what we wanted all along
Hanging up like it's the laws of our ghetto
And now we see that things are not simple

[Verse 2]
I can't have videos made by Sony, yo
Screen films of Rocky and Rambo
Role models from Hollywood to jungle
We learned to battle using our heroes
Aviator shades, no winds with the gren-ade
Hittin' that, uh camouflage and band-aid
Homemade tin weapons that ricochet
When it's hot, we all make lemonade

[Hook]
And now we really rock now, we're macho
And that's what we wanted all along
Hanging up like it's the laws of our ghetto
And now we see that things are not simple

[Verse 3]
Picked out an idiom and got my uniform
Girl gladiator, step in the stadium
One next to chick now talkin' rebellion
Cyanide pill hangin' like medallion
Picked out an idiom and got my uniform
Girl gladiator, step in the stadium
One next to chick now talkin' rebellion
Cyanide pill hangin' like medallion

[Hook ]
And now we really rock now, we're macho
And that's what we wanted all along
Hanging up like it's the laws of our ghetto
And now we see that things are not simple

And now we really rock now, we're macho
And that's what we wanted all along
Hanging up like it's the laws of our ghetto
And now we see that things are not simple

[Outro]
Ooo nana Madia sani de papaiya suni de ma

[Hook]
And now we really rock now, we're macho
And that's what we wanted all along
Hanging up like it's the laws of our ghetto
And now we see that things are not simple

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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