M.I.A.

Released: March 22, 2020

Songwriter: M.I.A.

Producer: M.I.A. Munchi

[Intro]
People be sleeping on me so much I feel like a mattress
They be giving too much credit to these girls that be actress

[Verse 1]
My avatar floating like a shooting star
Caught on a dash cam of a cop car
Be careful of the games that’ll take you too far
What you manifest you should keep it on a par
Equal to the people that shining like rah
I bring it every time
Keep it 100 like brraa
Saved up, loaded, pure powa
Fire, earth, aqua, air bender

You on a mountain
And this is the lightning

[Verse 2]
Direct that energy don’t be trollin
When I hit my stride I'm gonna go in
Yea, I got the hammer, Thor and Odin
Loki trynu get the mode I'm in
I'm a crouching tiger
And the dragons hiding
It's a full moon and the wolves are howlin
I'll never be a quitter, yeah, throw my towel in
The greatest glory's not, never fallin
It's how we get back up and keep on moving

[Verse 3]
Life changing, it's a strange thing
Are you ready for what the time gon bring?
Life changing, it's a strange thing
Are you ready for what this future brings?

[Chorus]
Back home, back home (force to be reckoned with)
Back home, back home (yeah, we got the sauce)
Back on track (I’m on a new level)
You better go check (I still be that rebel)

Back home, back home (force to be reckoned with)
Back home, back home (yeah, we got the sauce)
Back on track (I’m on a new level)
You better go check (I still be that rebel)

[Verse 4]
Queens and kings
The brown girl sings
Boys in the back by the tarpaulin
Who's hirin? What they firing?
The city’s full a sharks swimming with the dolphin
It's time for the magic like I'm Merlin
I've been choppin it and kicking it like a Shaolin
Darlin, the fun is always callin
And my callin is always to stop you fallin
If you do pick you up and keep it moving
It's only glass on the ceiling
It's not cement, don’t get stuck in feelings
The greatest glory's not never fallin
It's how we get back up and keep on moving

[Chorus]
Back home, back home (force to be reckoned with)
Back home, back home (yeah, we got the sauce)
Back on track (I’m on a new level)
You better go check (I still be that rebel)

Back home, back home (force to be reckoned with)
Back home, back home (yeah, we got the sauce)
Back on track (I’m on a new level)
You better go check (I still be that rebel)

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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