M.I.A.

Released: October 1, 2007

Songwriter: Switch M.I.A. Bappi Lahiri

Producer: Switch M.I.A.

[Intro]
Jimmy gone M.I.A
Come back Jimmy

[Verse 1]
When you go Rwanda, Congo
Take me on your genocide tour
Take me on a truck to Darfur
Take me where you would go
Got static on the satellite phone
Got to get you safe at home
Gonna get you somewhere warm
So you get me all alone

[Chorus]
Jimmy, aaja
Jimmy, aaja
Jimmy, aaja
Jimmy, aaja

[Verse 2]
Time and time and time and time again
You keep pushing that button but I don't know what you're saying
Hit me on AIM, tryna flip me on some game
Are you coming, are you going, are you leaving, are you staying?

[Bridge]
You tell me that you're busy
Your loving gets me crazy
I know that you hear me
Start acting like you want me
You told me that you're busy (Jimmy)
Your loving gets me crazy (Aaja)
I know that you hear me (Jimmy)
Start acting like you want me (Aaja)

[Verse 3]
Time and time and time again
You keep pushing me, what are you saying?
Ya hit me on AIM and flip me some game
And I still don't know what you're saying

[Bridge]
You told me that you're busy
Your loving gets me crazy
I know that you hear me
Start acting like you want me
You told me that you're busy (Jimmy)
Your loving gets me crazy (Aaja)
I know that you hear me (Jimmy)
Start acting like you want me (Aaja)

[Chorus]
Jimmy, aaja
Jimmy, aaja
Jimmy, aaja
Jimmy, aaja

[Outro]
Jimmy, I love you
Hear me sing

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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