M.I.A.

Released: December 31, 2010

[Intro]
We choose the right format
We leak the information to the public
And we defend ourselves against inevitable legal and political attacks
Vicki Leekx, leak me

(The world, the-the-the world)
I-I-I-It's the music

[Verse 1: M.I.A.]
M.I.A. state to state
I got people on my case
I got words from my speakers
And my speakers on some crates
I know too much real for me to be fake
You can fuck with this, fuckers, but you can never take

Imitators, stay away!
While I sleep, they try to take
Yeah, they like what I'm eating and they want my piece of cake (x2)

(Ooh, we can load this! Ooh, we can load that!)

[Outro]
The world, the people, you and me, may not do

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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