M.I.A.

Released: September 9, 2020

Songwriter: M.I.A.

Producer: Fern Cadenza M.I.A.

[Hook]
Hands up, hands down
Wake up, snap out
We gon' stand up
When they try to
Control, control
Control, control
Control, control
Control

[Verse 1]
Freedom of speech
What do schools teach?
M.I.A. be preaching now
World town reach
Dark skin on beach
I don't use no bleach
Drivin' in the seat
And my BM goes screech
Rendez-vouz in Greece
They wanna get a piece
Modern Day Tolstoy
I give them War & Peace
Une, deux, trois
Quatre, cinq, six
Why you got to fuck with me
Just to be a bitch?
Yeah, first female singer on the black list
If you want the truth I wonder why the point's missed
World town intelligence
I'm here for justice
If you're trying to break me
You better practise
Sheila and Bahgwan
50/50 mix
Mystic, gangsta
I don't take the licks
Gucci gang, gucci gang, gucci gang
Roti gang, Puri gang, Curry gang
Gucci galangalang - make it bang!

[Hook]
Hands up, hands down
Wake up, snap out
We gon' stand up
When they try to
Control, control
Control, control
Control, control
Control
Hands up, hands down
Wake up, snap out
We gon' stand up
When they try to
Control, control
Control, control
Control, control
Control

[Verse 2]
Face mask, ski mask
Now you think you're hard
One woman bandit
A moon shaped scar
Personality wide
I gave it three names
No, it's not split
I CTRL my own brain
You use 8% and you split it 2 ways
I use more than that and make 'em open up a case
"Can we dumb her down? She's so complicay
Problematic, traumatised, how the fuck is she ok?"
Standing in the way of the trolls
Everything they say about me is false
They be typing, tapping, typing the most
Hiding in the net like a ghost

[Hook]
Hands up, hands down
Wake up, snap out
We gon' stand up
When they try to
Control, control
Control, control
Control, control
Control, control
Hands up, hands down
Wake up, snap out
We gon' stand up
When they try to
Control, control
Control, control
Control, control
Control

[Outro]
Hands up, hands down
Wake up, snap out
We gon' stand up
When they try to
Control, control
Control, control
Control, control
Control

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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