M.I.A.

Released: December 31, 2010

Songwriter: M.I.A.

[Intro]
And I'mma bang it like this
Mister

[Hook]
With my hands in my pockets
And I'm moving forward forward forward forward
You put a bad taste in my mouth, mister
(Keep outta my way, mister)
With my hands in my pockets
And I'm moving forward forward forward forward
You put a bad taste in my mouth, mister
(Keep outta my way, mister)

[Verse 1]
Who said all the rules are made with rulers
We break 'em and break in the computers
I ain't buying no more from them looters
Who tried to out-school us, so we jump on our scooters
I hope you understood us, when we say
We don't make that money on the violence
That's why we don't do the silence
We don't make that money on the violence
That's why we don't do the silence

[Bridge]
Do you know me, punk?
I do you punk!
Do you know me, punk?
I do you punk!

[Hook]
With my hands in my pockets
And I'm moving forward forward forward forward
You put a bad taste in my mouth, mister
(Keep outta my way, mister)
With my hands in my pockets
And I'm moving forward forward forward forward
You put a bad taste in my mouth, mister
(Keep outta my way, mister)

[Verse 2]
They say I pick big battles with the government
Immigration departments
For the people who live in the tenements
Our voices carry our sentiments
We sprinkle your coffee with the cinnamon
We're made of ladies and gentlemen
From the street to the spidermans
We could take on all your nations

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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