M.I.A.

Released: October 31, 2004

[Intro: M.I.A.]
Growin' Up
Growin' Up
Growin' Up
Growin' Up

[Verse: The Bangles]
All the old paintings on the tomb
They do the sand dance, don't you know?
If they move too quick (oh-way-oh)
They're falling down like a domino

All the bazaar men by the Nile
They got the money on a bet
Gold crocodiles (oh-way-oh)
They snap their teeth on your cigarette

Foreign types with the hookah pipes say
(Way-oh-way-oh, ooh-way-oh-way-oh)
Walk like an Egyptian

The blonde waitresses take their trays
They spin around and they cross the floor
They've got the moves (oh-way-oh)
You drop your drink, then they bring you more

All the school kids so sick of books
They like the punk and the metal band
When the buzzer rings (oh-way-oh)
They're walking like an Egyptian

All the kids in the marketplace say
(Way-oh-way-oh, ooh-way-oh-way-oh)
Walk like an Egyptian

Slide your feet up the street, bend your back
Shift your arm, then you pull it back
Life is hard you know (oh-way-oh)
So strike a pose on a Cadillac

If you want to find all the cops
They're hanging out in the donut shop
They sing and dance (oh-way-oh)
They spin the clubs, cruise down the block

All the Japanese with their yen
The party boys call the Kremlin
And the Chinese know (oh-way-oh)
They walk the line like Egyptian

All the cops in the donut shop say
(Way-oh-way-oh, ooh-way-oh-way-oh)
Walk like an Egyptian
Walk like an Egyptian

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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