M.I.A.

Released: October 31, 2004

[Intro]
M.I.A
You are strictly [?]
My [?]
Yeah

The Dread at the control
International controller, choke the world
Universal Field Marshall, I'm no partial
Play the selection without objection

[Hook]
Growin' up, brewin' up
Guerrilla gettin' trained up
Look out, look out
From over the rooftop
Growin' up, brewin' up
Guerrilla gettin' trained up
Look out, look out
From over the rooftop
Competition coming up now
Load up, aim, fire, fire, pop
Competition coming up now
Load up, aim, fire, fire, pop

[Verse 1]
Row da boat straight to da ocean
Give him a run, a run at his own game
Signal the plane and I landed on the runway
A survivor, independent foreigner
First your beats had me running to the running man
Then your chat had me wanna do the boogie man
Click suits and booted in the Timbaland
Freakin' out to Missy on a Timbaland

[Hook]
Growin' up, brewin' up
Guerrilla gettin' trained up
Look out, look out
From over the rooftop
Growin' up, brewin' up
Guerrilla gettin' trained up
Look out, look out
From over the rooftop
Competition coming up now
Load up, aim, fire, fire, pop
Competition coming up now
Load up, aim, fire, fire, pop

[Verse 2]
You should've been good to me
Then I wouldn't get so rowdy-rowdy
You should've kept ya' eye on me
Then I wouldn't get so baddy-baddy
Whether you are swingin' out to swing beat
Laying low and jacking up to Lou Reed
Chasin' out to Pixies and the Beasties
Doin' acid with hair colored geek freaks
Fast forward onto the '04
Got my own flow get you to the dance floor
Little mamma doin' the booty rolls
Crump clowns got me rootin' for the linos

[Hook]
Growin' up, brewin' up
Guerrilla gettin' trained up
Look out, look out
From over the rooftop
Growin' up, brewin' up
Guerrilla gettin' trained up
Look out, look out
From over the rooftop
Competition coming up now
Load up, aim, fire, fire, pop
Competition coming up now
Load up, aim, fire, fire, pop

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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