M.I.A.

Released: November 5, 2013

Songwriter: Switch M.I.A. Hugues Rey Jean-Baptiste de Laubier Benoit Heitz

Producer: Surkin Switch

[Refrain]
Dem-dem-dem-free-freekdem
Dem-dem-dem-free-free-dem

[Verse 1]
I’m so tangy, people call me Mathangi
Goddess of word, bitches I’mma keep it banging
Truth is like a rotten tooth, you gotta spit it out!
Let the bottom two, let my wisdom work it out
Big on the underground, can’t knock me down
Vicki Leekx bitches, back by dope demand
I sleep on my talent and I stand by it too
I can say lots with a little words or few like
Like Adam had 'em, yeh, me, the madame
Yeah I’ll introduce you to the dooms do dooms
Come let we go, do you like my perfumes?
Made it at home with some gasoline and shrooms
Oil and water are two extremes
We like fucking carpets, you fucking brooms
Why is your tattoo some ugly looking thing?
I got many designs they're downloading on Bing
My cousin got his G.C.S.E.'s decorating
He’s handy you might need him when I finish what I’m saying
Let's be frank, you my stan, I'm your stan
I don’t care what you smoke, what you fucking drank
I'm allowed to be pissed at mates who are yanks
Cause it’s not me and you, it's the fucking banks!

[Hook]
Bring the noise when we run upon them!
Bring the noise when we run upon them!
Bring the noise when we run upon them!
Bring the noise when we run upon them!

[Refrain]
Dem-dem-dem-free-freekdem
Dem-dem-dem-free-free-dem

[Verse 2]
Truth is like a rotten tooth, you gotta spit it out
I left the bottom two, let my wisdom work it out
The world is ours, send your soldier powers
These words I announce, hope you heard 'em like cows
Alpha Kenny buddy, Roger, Charlie, and Rich
Bitch, my swag bitches, but you can’t touch this
So click, click, click, please get off my dick
Just ‘cause I know more don’t make me thick
I'm a overweight, heavyweight, female Slick Rick
If you need the trees then my shits got stick
I got bug spray, bucket, stick
Tons of the fun stuff, tons and tons of it

[Hook]
Bring the noise when we run upon them!
Bring the noise when we run upon them!
Bring the noise when we run upon them!
Bring the noise when we run upon them!

[Refrain]
Dem-dem-dem-free-freekdem
Dem-dem-dem-free-free-dem

[Verse 3]
My nan was a stan for imported liquor brands
72 bottles at her birthday got drank
I must say people I got her to freaking thank
I'm a party fucking animal, if you ain't, scram!
My uncle jumped a boat, it took him to Iran
What started as a life now it got him banned
So I came in a hurry, not a white van
Learnt that Sam, Ram, Chan, are the same man
Corrugated iron wooden shacks
Gated mansions next to XX
Boys on motor bikes next to Maybachs
We got backpacks next to cats from Kyzack
Ex-convicts and diplomats
Rapper and Russians who don't pay tax
These cards are stacked and this is out crack
Rewind, pull it, and bring it all back

[Hook]
Bring the noise when we run upon them!
Bring the noise when we run upon them!
Bring the noise when we run upon them!
Bring the noise when we run upon them!

[Refrain]
Dem-dem-dem-free-freekdem
Dem-dem-dem-free-free-dem

[Outro]
Freedom’s just another word
Choose
Nothing left to lose
Choose
Freedom’s just another word
Choose
Nothing left to lose
Choose
Freedom’s just another word
Choose
Nothing left to lose

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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