M.I.A.

Released: October 31, 2004

[Intro]
Mota pappti
Roti sutala
Enne patillian
Kaasu ennala
Kadaki ponala
Kassu patulaya
Kadakarna patu
Kan-addicala

[Verse 1]
China Girl is a little girl
From a town, that's all ya need to know
Lolita was a man-eater
Clocked him like a taxi meter
Fuck gold, she was platinum digger
Shakin-ass-making moves on a mover
Visa, then a plane ride to ya'
Peace out, she'll kill you like Uma

[Hook]
She skipped away to the shop
She found she didn't have enough
She clocked him looking right at her
And sucked on a lollipop

[Verse 2]
Chinna Girl grew up to be a big girl
Had her sights set on a bigger world
Dial-a-Bride from Sri Lanka
Found herself a Yorkshire banker
Need a Visa? Got with a geezer
Need some money? Paid him with a knees-up
Year later, started to ease up
Got her own way, shouted out "see ya"

[Hook]
She skipped away to the shop
She found she didn't have enough
She clocked him looking right at her
And sucked on a lollipop

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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