M.I.A.

Released: October 31, 2004

Songwriter: Sugu Arulpragasam Justine Frischmann M.I.A.

Producer: Diplo

[Verse 1]
You can watch TV and watch the media
President Bush doing takeover
Kate Moss in ads for mascara
All my youth the young offender
The bill payers, the drug dealers
Girls who are magazine covers
The part-time jobbers at the call center
No career plans 'cause you won't go far
Put away change for Ibiza and
Check your credit on your new Nokia

[Hook]
You can be a follower, but who's your leader?
Break the cycle or it will kill ya'
You can be a follower, but who's your leader?
Break the cycle or it will kill ya'

[Post-Chorus]
You leader, you lead can't, do what you do now
What really good that can happen to you?
You leader, you lead can't, do what you do now
What really good that can happen to you?

[Verse 2]
You're prime minister to your employer
Ego lovers need more power
The trendsetters make things better
Don't sell out to be product pushers
The gyro casher and baby makers
Try something new cause it ain't over
All poor people from all over
Lottery's got a rollover

[Hook]
You can be a follower, but who's your leader?
Break the cycle or it will kill ya'
You can be a follower, but who's your leader?
Break the cycle or it will kill ya'

[Post-Chorus]
You leader, you lead can't, do what you do now
What really good that can happen to you?
You leader, you lead can't, do what you do now
What really good that can happen to you?

[Bridge]
It's rough in here, but it's rougher out there
Try'na get up out it, I need to get paid
I feel a type of way try'na talk anarchy
But why should I obey when they don't check me?
It's rough in here, but it's rougher out there
Try'na get up out it, I need to get paid
I feel a type of way try'na talk anarchy
But why should I obey when they don't check me?

[Outro]
It's rough in here, but it's rougher out there
Try'na get up out here, I need to get paid
Hmm, hmm-mm-mm, hmm-mm-mm, anarchy
Uhh, uhh-uh-uh, uh-uh they don't check me
It's rough in here, but it's rougher out there
Try'na get up out it, I need to get paid
I feel a type of way try'na talk anarchy
But why should I obey when they don't check me?
It's rough in here, but it's rougher out there
Try'na get up out it, I need to get paid
I feel a type of way try'na talk anarchy
But why should I obey when they don't check me?

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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