CONTENTS OF
THIS SECTION
Last updated
06/10/07

" We need to hear uncensored and non-sanitized voices, such as Tamil Tiger-defending rapper MIA declaring 'like PLO, we don't surrend-o'" - Dr. Agnes Callamard, Executive Director, Article 19, 28 June 2006

Albums

Kala
at amazon.com

Arular
at amazon.com

Galang
at amazon.com

Bucky Done Gun
at amazon.com

Sunshowers
at amazon.com

Boyz
at amazon.com

M.I.A. at You Tube

Galang (with Lyric)

Bucky Done Gun (with Lyric)

M.I.A. Slide Show

Hombre - Video

M.I.A. 10 Dollar - BDO 2006

Lyrics

Sunshowers - Lyric

Amazon - Lyric

Pull Up The People - Lyric

Fire Fire - Lyric

Boyz - Lyric

Interviews

Mathangi Maya Arulpragasam
M.I.A. (Missing in Acton )

"People don't realize that I had to come from a village in Sri Lanka to get here. So the journey is about the journey itself, not just about doing music... I wanted to see if I could write songs about something important and make it sound like nothing. And it kind of worked...I haven't heard honesty in music for so long and this is how I feel, and this is what I think. You don't even have to say words.. I was just being as raw as possible. I wanted to make music that you felt in your gut.... You can't separate the world into two parts like that, good and evil. Terrorism is a method. But America has successfully tied all these pockets of independence struggles, revolutions and extremists into one big notion of terrorism. You can't grab someone by the neck and choke them and then complain they're kicking you. If you're going around oppressing people, they will fight back..."

---

Early Life Studying Art and Film Music Beginnings Censorship
2006

Tiger, tiger, burning bright: Tamil pop provocatrice M.I.A. wages war on the dance floor, - Joshua Ostroff 

US Locks Out M.I.A., June 2006
MIA gets visa to US & performs in  Los Angeles - July 2007 "I lost my voice in L.A. but I'll do my best because it's been a long f***ing wait to get here.."

Songs, Lyrics  & Albums: Galang - Bucky Done Gun - Sunshowers - Bird Flu - Arular, Amazon -  Arular, Pull Up The People -  Arular, Fire Fire -  Kala  - Boyz et al

Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, the daughter of a Tamil activist-turned-revolutionary-guerrilla, Arul Pragasam, was born in Hounslow, London. When she was six months old, her family moved back to their native Sri Lanka. Motivated by his wish to support the Tamil efforts to win independence from the majority Sinhalese population, her father became politically known as Arular and was a founding member of The Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS), a militant Tamil group. Her alias, "M.I.A." stands for "Missing in Acton". She says her alias references both her London neighborhood (Acton) and her politically tumultuous youth.

While residing in Sri Lanka, Maya lived with her family on her grandparents' remote farm, a collection of huts without electricity or running water. After a year, as her father's involvement in militant activities increased, Maya, her older sister Kali, and their mother moved to Jaffna in the far north of the country, where Maya's younger brother Sugu was born.

Contact with her father was strictly limited, as he was in hiding from the Sri Lankan Army (which is reported to engage in the torture of Tamil males). He occasionally visited in secret, slipping through the window at night and being introduced to the children as "an uncle" so that his identity and whereabouts would not be given away to the army when they regularly came to question the family.

Eventually, as the civil war escalated, it became unsafe for the family to stay in Sri Lanka, so they were forced to relocate to Madras, India. They moved into an almost derelict house three and a half miles from the nearest road or neighbor. They survived there for a while, with sporadic visits from Arular, and the girls attended the local school, excelling as students. However, visits from friends and family grew less frequent and money grew very tight. The children became ill; Kali caught typhoid fever and the family struggled to survive on a limited amount of food and water. A visiting uncle took concern and moved them back to Sri Lanka, where they settled in Jaffna again.

By now, the violence of the civil war was at its peak, and the family once again tried to flee the country. The army regularly shot Tamils seeking to move across border areas and bombed roads and escape routes. After several failed attempts to leave, Maya’s mother successfully made it out with the three children, arriving first in India before finally returning to Maya's birthplace in London, where they were housed as refugees.

It was in the late 80s, on a council estate in Mitcham, Surrey, that an eleven-year-old Arulpragasam began to learn the English language. Here she was exposed to Western radio for the first time, hearing broadcasts emanating from her neighbors' flats. Her affinity for hip-hop and rap began from there. The uncompromising attitudes of Public Enemy, Big Daddy Kane, Roxanne Shante and N.W.A. clicked with a frustrated, energetic war-child trying to relate to grey and foreign surroundings. "Those records were rhythmic, so whether you understood the language or not, you could understand the music," she now says.

A commission from Elastica's Justine Frischmann to provide the artwork and cover image for the band's second album, The Menace, led to Arulpragasam following the band on tour around forty American states, video-documenting the event, and eventually directing the music video for Elastica's single, "Mad Dog".

The support act on the tour, electro-clash artist Peaches, introduced Arulpragasam to the Roland MC-505 sequencing machine and gave her the courage to take on the one artform she felt least confident in: music. Back home in London, Arulpragasam and Frischmann got hold of their own 505 and, working with the simplest of set-ups (a second-hand 4-track, the 505 and a radio microphone), Arulpragasam worked-up a series of six songs onto a demo tape which became her calling card to the industry.

This tape included the first track she had ever composed, "M.I.A.", the second track she had ever composed, "Galang", and "Lady Killer". The tape found its way into the hands of Steve Mackey and Ross Orton who then re-worked the track "Galang" into the diverse meld of influences that would eventually propel M.I.A. into the limelight.

An innovative recipe of dancehall, electro, grime and world music, Showbiz Records only pressed 500 copies of the independent vinyl single "Galang", but that was enough for her to win the widespread and immediate support of DJ's and the media.

Numerous major record labels caught onto the underground success of "Galang" and M.I.A. eventually signed to XL Recordings home to Dizzee Rascal, Basement Jaxx and the White Stripes, embracing them as they were the only label to offer her complete creative control. She also chose them because it was the closest to her house, telling the label, "Trust me, you've been looking for me", before dropping off the "Galang" tape. They called her back 20 minutes later.

"Galang" was rereleased. The accompanying music video for "Galang", featuring multiple M.I.A.’s amid a backdrop of her graffiti artwork animated and brought to life, was directed by Ruben Fleischer and art directed by M.I.A. herself. Scenes of urban Britain and the war in Sri Lanka are depicted and delivered with a wry sense of humour.

For her next single release, "Sunshowers", Arulpragasam again hooked up with Ross Orton and Steve Mackey who had furnished her so successfully with the beats on "Galang". Together they pushed boundaries even further with minimalist production and a reworked chorus from Dr. Buzzards Original Savannah Band’s track of the same name to create a template for her to fire out her young-girl bravado, this time about guerrilla warfare and the Sri Lankan war.

A lush video was made for the track, which she filmed in the jungles of South India with acclaimed director Rajesh Touchriver. To this day, MTV refuses to play the video until the references to the Palestine Liberation Organization are removed from the song. Maya refuses to comply with their requests (although she has recently appeared on an MTV Live spot online where this reference is uncensored).

On the heels of months of anticipation, Arulpragasam’s debut album Arular was finally released in March 2005 in North America, and was simultaneously released around the world to widespread critical acclaim. M.I.A. followed the release of the album with strongly received performances at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on May 1, 2005, at the Manhattan club S.O.B.s, as well as at New York City's Central Park Summerstage, the Glastonbury Festival and Japan's Summer Sonic Fest.

On July 19, 2005, M.I.A was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Music Prize for Arular. In December, 2005, Arular was named number 1 album of the year by Stylus Magazine' and influential music website I Love Music. Amazon.com named it their number 2 album of the year. Spin Magazine and URB named M.I.A. their artist of the year for 2005. Blender Magazine named Arular the album of the year for 2005. Rolling Stone named Arular one of the top albums of 2005. TIME Magazine also listed Arular as one of the top 10 best albums released in 2005 as part of their "Best of 2005" section. Influential indie music site Pitchfork Media (www.pitchforkmedia.com) named Arular the #4 best album of 2005.

The nature of M.I.A.'s art work and lyrics has led to increased curiosity into her career and levels of censorship of her work. M.I.A.'s official website has been visited by a curious US Government numerous times, MTV still refuses to play the video of her single "Sunshowers" until references to the PLO are removed from the song, and recently the artist was denied a visa to enter America, despite having previously lived and worked in the country.

The reasons for the denial of a visa remain unclear. M.I.A. has however previously stated in an interview about censorship of her work: "From Day One, this has been a mad, crazy thing: I say the things I'm not supposed to say, I look wrong, my music doesn't sound comfortable for any radio stations or genres, people are having issues with my videos when they're not rude or explicit or crazy controversial. I find it all really funny."

M.I.A. ended 2005 embarking on her first North American concert tour, joining Gwen Stefani on her Harajuku Lovers Tour. The arrival of 2006 saw her performing her final arena dates of the tour in Japan, and returning to the studio to work on her upcoming album. At the end of May 2006, Arulpragasam hosted the long running Australian alternative music show Rage as a guest programmer. The show was very well received.

So far, Maya has recorded in Tamil Nadu and Trinidad and Tobago for her next album, and a few tracks were originally going to be produced by the legendary Timbaland, who has produced songs for the likes of Jay-Z, Missy Elliott and Xzibit. However, according to a recent message board posting by Diplo, M.I.A. will be producing her new album all by herself, and has funded the music video for the lead single, "Bird Flu", herself. Images from behind the scenes on the production of this new music video have been released on M.I.A.'s myspace account. M.I.A. is also working with Oscar-winners Three 6 Mafia on two songs for her next album. Two new tracks, "XR2" and "Talk About Moi" (tentative title) have premiered on M.I.A.'s myspace and fan forum site, respectively.

[The text of the above article is from Wikepedia and is published here under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.]

"Freedom fighting Dad bombed this pad / Called him a terror put him on wanted ads / Daddy M.I.A. missing in action / Going to start a revolution" -- M.I.A. "FREEDOM SKIT"

More than three years into his amorphous War on Terror, President G-Dub is now apparently prepping a drive-by on tyranny, telling the world's stepped-on in his inaugural harangue, "The United States will not ignore your oppression or excuse your oppressors."  Nice thought and all, if we didn't know how many people tend to die during Bush's freedom-izing.

Not to mention that, when dealing with the oppressed, the difference between terrorist and freedom fighter is often subjective. Just ask Maya Arulpragasam, a London-based MC bearing the nom de guerre M.I.A. and a new album, Arular (XL/Beggars Banquet), on which she ably navigates a claustrophobic global sound clash while dropping political science.

She grew up in civil-war torn Sri Lanka -- a 22-year conflict that's killed 65,000, currently under an uneasy ceasefire -- as the daughter of one of the founders of the Tamil Tigers, a guerrilla organization that has been classified as terrorists by the US government and accused of recruiting child soldiers by UNICEF.

"That's why I wrote the song 'Sunshowers,'" Maya says over the phone from Berlin before a gig. "You can't separate the world into two parts like that, good and evil. Terrorism is a method. But America has successfully tied all these pockets of independent struggles, revolutions and extremists into one big notion of terrorism."

The "Sunshowers" single -- her second after career-definer "Galang" and riding the same jolting mash of electro, grime, ragga, rap and South Asian influences -- contains more inflammatory politics than one might expect on a dance track that's available as a ringtone and has soundtracked fashion shows.

Most brazenly, she shout-outs the Palestinians ("Like P.L.O., we don't surrend-o") but also sprinkles guerrilla imagery like she salts and peppers her mango, chatting about snipers, bomb blasts and street-side murders. The India-filmed video replaces hip-hop's familiar housing-project backdrop with a lush, tiger-filled jungle through which M.I.A. stalks, and even the sweetly sung chorus, interpolated from a similarly-named '70s single, takes a threatening turn in Maya's hands: "And some showers I'll be aiming at you / 'Cause I'm watching you, my baby."

Not surprisingly, MTV has requested she clarify the song with a statement before they'll screen the video.

"My answer to that is that when you watch TV and flick onto the news channel, that's what's shown and they don't have to censor that," Maya says. "I wrote this song as a chicken-and-egg story: who's attacking who, who is good, who is evil. You can't grab someone by the neck and choke them and then complain they're kicking you. If you're going around oppressing people, they will fight back."

To put M.I.A.'s perspective into perspective, she was born in England but brought back to Sri Lanka as a baby when her father returned to help lead the independence movement, spending her childhood hiding amid the chaos of the "full-on" conflict.

"I'd seen people die by the time I left," she says. "That's as bad as it could get, when you see people from your village disappearing and not coming back. One minute they're doctors and really respected and the next they're in wheelchairs because they've been 'accidentally' shot. My school was burned down. My family's house was burned down. When we tried to leave Sri Lanka with my mom, the buses we were on would get stopped in the middle of nowhere and people would be taken off and killed. It teaches you how bad human beings can be."

That lesson was further elucidated after her family escaped to England as refugees and landed in a racist housing estate. The 11-year-old soon discovered dancehall and hip-hop, slowly learning the English words, inflections and cadences that would form her flow.

But Maya only started making music in 2002, taking a serendipitous path that began when she was an art student, known for combining Tamil Tiger imagery with graffiti. This led to designing the album cover for Elastica's 2000 album The Menace, followed by a gig videotaping their subsequent tour. The opening act was Toronto's electro-expat Peaches, who kindly taught Maya how to build beats on a primitive groovebox.

"We did a night in Toronto and I got to meet all of [Peaches'] friends and they seemed so open-minded and creative," she says. "I was having issues on the tour making that film. I was constantly talking out what was happening in Sri Lanka because I had just heard news that my cousin had died [in a suicide bombing] and everybody I met through Peaches said if you really feel that strongly you should do something about it."

So Maya bought a Roland 505, and, like her seamstress mother, began stitching together her patchwork of First and Third World influences.

Though "Galang" skyrocketed M.I.A. to cult fame -- saturating MP3 blogs, winning DJ hearts and scoring a pre-emptive Fader magazine cover last summer -- it also demonstrates a remarkable restraint. As startling as the decomposing handclaps, sub-lo-fi bass and nursery rhyme toasting may be, it's not until the final breakdown that the song earns its rep. After demanding that we "speak the slang now" she suddenly gives up on language altogether, with multi-tracked M.I.A.s chanting fiercely resonant "ya ya heys" that transform the song into a tribal exultation.

"They were like my batman signal," Maya says. "I haven't heard honesty in music for so long and this is how I feel, and this is what I think. You don't even have to say words," she explains. "I was just being as raw as possible. I wanted to make music that you felt in your gut."

Following up her fantastic hard-to-find mix disc, Piracy Funds Terrorism with Philly DJ Diplo, and titled after her father's rebel name, Arular is a fully formed manifesto, equal parts jaw-dropping intensity and hip-quaking catchiness, clattering sonics and scattered polemics. With production assists from Steve Mackey (Pulp), Ross Orton (Fat Truckers) and Richard X, she brings in more battleground back story on "Fire Fire," augments a home-invasion intro with Olympic horns on "Bucky Done Gun," is kidnapped on "Amazon" and reps oppressed folk from Kingston to Rio on "Pull Up the People."

While her dirty beats, inimitable sing-rap style (combining girlish glee with intimidating patter) and stunning looks should be enough to make M.I.A. a pop star, her aspirations go further. But can politically fuelled dance music even hope to make any discernable difference in this terror-era?

"I don't know," Maya says mischievously. "Let's find out."

"As if hip-hop didn’t already have enough on its shoulders, now immigration officials are treating MCs like terrorists. The June 15th issue of Rolling Stone reports that British/Sri Lankan rapper MIA was denied permission to enter the US, where she was scheduled to start work on her new album. Always one to poke fun at the situation, the MC wrote on her Myspace page: “Roger, roger do you hear me? Over!!!! The US immigration won’t let me in… Now I’m strictly making my album outside the borders!!!” MIA’s agents, William Morris, later denied the claim, saying that immigration simply hadn’t gotten back to them (a nice way of saying her application has been “held up”). The controversy over all this is a bit confusing since MIA already toured and worked in the US as recently as last year.

But under all the damage control coming from her agents, there’s the possibility of something a bit more calculated -- and all too common in the climate of the war on terror and an anti-immigrant backlash MIA (born Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam) is part of a growing number of politically charged artists.

Her lyrics, delivered with a streetwise intelligence, take on everything from consumerism and poverty to exploitation and war. She’s unabashedly outspoken, and a supporter of liberation movements around the world. Her audience has quickly grown within the past year, and her debut was named one of the best album of 2005 by Blender, Spin, Rolling Stone and a handful of others. As usual, militant stances and a wide audience are a dangerous recipe for some. " more

"I lost my voice in L.A. but I'll do my best because it's been a long f***ing wait to get here.."

 Audio Visual at YouTube.Com: Galang

Galang at amazon.com

london calling
speak the slang now
boys say wha
come on girls say what, say wha

slam, galang galang galang...
shotgun, get down
get down, get down, get down
too late, you down
d-d-d-down
ta na ta na ta na

blaze a blaze (galang a lang a lang lang)
purple haze (galang a lang a lang lang)
blaze a blaze (galang a lang a lang lang)
purple haze (galang a lang a lang lang)

[2x]who the hell is hounding you in the bmw
how the hell he find you, 147'd you
the feds gon get you
pull the strings on the hood
1 paranoid youth blazin' thru the hood

blaze a blaze (galang a lang a lang lang)
purple haze (galang a lang a lang lang)
blaze a blaze (galang a lang a lang lang)
purple haze (galang a lang a lang lang)

london calling
speak the slang now
boys say wha
come on girls say what, say wha

they say
rivers gonna run though
work is gonna save you
pray and you will pull through
suck a dick'll help you
don't let em get to you
if he's got 1 you get 2
backstab your crew
sell it i could sell you

blaze a blaze (galang a lang a lang lang)
purple haze (galang a lang a lang lang)

Audio Visual at YouTube.Com: Bucky Done Gun

Bucky Done Gun at amazon.com

London
Quiet down I need to make a sound
New York
Quiet down I need to make a sound
Kingston
Quiet down I need to make a sound
Brazil
Quiet down I need to make sound

They're coming through the window
They're coming through the door
They're busting down the big wall
and Sounding the horn x2

What you Want
Bucky Done Gun
What you want
The Fire Done Burn
What you want
Bucky Done Gun
Get Crackin' Get Get Crackin' x2

Time to spit new shit
I'm rocking on this new bit
I'm hot now you'll see
I'll fight you just to get peace

Heavy Weight Wrestler
Fight me in your comforter
Let you be superior
I'm flithy with the fury ya

London
Quiet down I need to make a sound
New York
Quiet down I need to make a sound
Kingston
Quiet down I need to make a sound
Brazil
Quiet I need to make sound

I'll hard drive your bit
I'm battered by your sumo grip
Lucky I like feeling shit
My Stamina can take it
Gymnastics Super Fit
Muscle in the gun clip
Bite, Teeth Nose Bleed
Tied up in a scarf piece

What you Want
Bucky Done Gun
What you want
The Fire Done Burn
What you want
Bucky Done Gun
Get Crackin' Get Get Crackin' x2

Can I get control
Do you like me vulnerable
I'm armed and I'm equal
More fun for the people
Physical, Brute force
Steel, lion you're the boss
Yeah, you're so do-able
Grind me down sugar slow

What you Want
Bucky Done Gun
What you want
The Fire Done Burn
What you want
Bucky Done Gun
Get Crackin' Get Get Crackin' x2

Sunshowers  Audio Visual at YouTube.Com also audio clip

bongo
with my lingo
And beat it like a wing yo
To Congo
To  Colombo
Can't stereotype my thing yo
I salt and pepper my mango
Shoot spit
Out the window
Bingo I got em in the thing yo
Now what? I'm doing my thing yo

Quit bending all my fingo
Quit beating me like you're Ringo
You wanna go?
You wanna win a war?
Like P.L.O don't surrendo

The sunshowers that fall on my troubles
Are over you my baby
And some showers I'll be aiming at you
cos I'm watching you my baby

I bongo
with my lingo
And beat it like a wing yo
To Congo
To  Colombo
Can't stereotype my thing yo
I checked that mouth on him
Fucking check that gas on him
I had him
Cornered him
Fucking shut that gate on him
Why would you listen to him?
He had his way I'm bored of him
I'm tired of him
I don't wanna be as bad as him

It's a bomb yo
so run yo
Put away your stupid gun yo
Cos we see through like a protocol call
That's why we blow it up 'fore we go

The sunshowers that fall on my troubles
Are over you my baby
And some showers I'll be aiming at you
cos I'm watching you my baby

Semi-9 and snipered him
On that wall they posted him
They cornered him
and then just murdered him

He told them he didn't know them
He wasn't there they didn't know him
They showed him a picture then
Ain't that you with the Muslims?

He had colgate on his teeth
And Reebok classics on his feet
At a factory he does Nike
And then helps the family

Beat heart beat
He's made it to the Newsweek
Sweetheart seen it
He's doing it for the peeps. peace.

The sunshowers that fall on my troubles
Are over you my baby
And some showers I'll be aiming at you
cos I'm watching you my baby

---

Bird Flu
M.I.A.

BIG on the underground
what’s the point of knocking me down?
everybody knows
I’m already good on the ground

most of us stay strong
shit don’t really bound us
then I go on my own
making bombs with rubber bands

I have my hard down
so I need a man for romance
streets are making em hard
so they selfish little roamers
jumpin’ girl to girl
make us meat like burgers
when I get fat
I’ll pop me out some leaders

A protocol to be a Rocawear model?
it didn’t really drop that way
my legs hit the hurdle

A protocol to be a rocker on a label?
it didn’t really drop that way
our beats were too evil

but I put away paper for later so I’m stable
a better something better come
so I could get cable
ghetto pops, food drops
I store them in my stable
I cook em up , pop em down
eat me it off ya a table

The village got on the phone
said the street is comin’ to town
they wanna check my papers
see what I carry around
credentials are boring
I burnt them at the burial ground
don’t order me about
I’m an outlaw from the badland

put away shots for later
so I’m stable
live in trees chew on feet
watch lost on cable
bird flu gonna get you
made it in my stable
from the crap you drop
on my crop when they pay you.
 

 Album : Arular - Amazon

I was missin' in action On the side of a carton I was taken in a Datsun From a street in Action [x2] I was sipping on a Rubicon Thinking 'bout where I come Its all this for revolution Cuttin' up the coupon Savin for a telephone Can I call home Please Can I go Home [x2] Painted nails, sunsets on horizons Palm trees silhouette smells amazing Blindfolds under home made lanterns Somewhere in the Amazon They're holding me Ransom [x2] Hello This is M.I.A. Could you please Come get me [x4] Smoking on a Benson Tryin' to get me undone Let Me Go I don't want your attention Under Submission Out of frustration I'll do it I'll scream for the nation [x2] Painted nails, sunsets on horizons Palm trees silhouette smells amazing Blindfolds under home made lanterns Somewhere in the Amazon They're holding me Ransom [x2] Hello This is M.I.A. Could you please Come get me [x4] Minutes turned to hours And Became our dates When We Shared raindrops That turned into Lakes Bodies started Merging And the lines got grey Now I'm looking at him thinking Maybe He's okay [x2] Hello This is M.I.A It's okay You forgot me [x8]

Arular at amazon.com

Pull up the people, pull up the poor
Pull up the people, pull up the poor
Pull up the people, pull up the poor
Pull up the people, pull up the poor
Pull up the people, pull up the poor
Pull up the people, pull up the poor
Pull up the poor, pull up the poor

Slang tang
That's the M.I.A. thang
I've got the bombs to make you blow
I got the beats to make it bang
[X2]

Yeah,me got God and me got you
Every day thinking bout how me get through
Everything i own is on I.O.U.
But i'm here to bringing you
Someting new

You no like the people,they no like you
Then they go and set it off
With a big Boom
Every gun in a battle is a
Son and daughter too

So why you wanna talk about
Who done who?
Why you wanna talk about

Slang tang
That's the M.I.A. tang
I've got the bombs to make you blow
I got the beats to make it bang
[X2]

Pull up the people, pull up the poor
Pull up the people, pull up the poor
Pull up the people, pull up the poor
Pull up the people, pull up the poor
Pull up the people, pull up the poor
Pull up the people, pull up the poor
Pull up the poor, pull up the poor

I'm a fighter, fighter God
I'm a soldier on that road
I'm a fighter, a nice nice fighter
I'm a soldier on that road
You can bring me the reaper
Bring me the lawyer
I'm a fighter, i'll take em on
You treat me like a killer
I ain't hate ya.

I'm a fighter, fighter God
I'm a soldier on that road
I'm a fighter, a nice nice fighter
I'm a soldier on that road

Slang tang
That's the M.I.A. thang
I've got the bombs to make you blow
I got the beats to make it bang bang bang

Slang tang
That's the M.I.A. thang
I've got the bombs to make you blow
I got the beats to make it

Slang tang
That's the M.I.A. thang
I've got the bombs to make you blow
I got the beats to make it bang bang bang

Slang tang
That's the M.I.A. thang
I've got the bombs to make you blow
I got the beats to make it bang

Growin up, Brewin Up
Guerilla gettin trained up
Look out look out
From over the Rooftop

Growin up, Brewin Up
Guerilla gettin trained up
Look out Look out
From over the rooftop

Competition coming up now
Load up,
Aim,
Fire Fire,
Pop

Competition coming up now
Load up,
Aim,
Fire Fire,
Pop

Row Da Boat - Straight to da ocean
Give 'im a run - A run at his own game
Signal the plane - An' I landed on the runway
A survivor, independant foreigner

First your beats had me running to the running man
Then your chat had me wanna do the bogie man
Click suits and booted in the timberland
Freakin out to Missy on a Timbaland

Growin up, Brewin Up
Guerilla gettin trained up
Look out Look out
From over the rooftop

Growin up, Brewin Up
Guerilla gettin trained up
Look out Look out
From over the rooftop

Competition coming up now
Load up,
Aim,
Fire Fire,
Pop

Competition coming up now
Load up,
Aim,
Fire Fire,
Pop

You shoulda been good to me
Then I wouldn't get so rowdy rowdy
You shoulda kept ya eye on me
Then I wouldn't get so baddy baddy

Whether you are...
Swinging out to Swing beat
Laying low and jacking-up to Lou Reed
Chasin out to Pixies and the Beasties
Doin aceed with Hair-Coloured Geek Freaks
FFWD onto the' 04
Got my own flow get you to the dance floor
Little mamma doin the booty rolls
Crump clowns got me rootin for the linos

Growin up, Brewin Up
Guerilla gettin trained up
Look out look out
From over the Rooftop

Growin up, Brewin Up
Guerilla gettin trained up
Look out Look out
From over the rooftop

Competition coming up now
Load up,
Aim,
Fire Fire,
Pop

Competition coming up now
Load up,
Aim,
Fire Fire,
Pop

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Fight On!

Editorial Reviews from Amazon.com online "M.I.A. is hailed as one of the most freshly creative artists to hit the scene, paving the way for fierce and adventurous females to break the mould. With KALA, she pulls even more globe-trekking, and genre bending into her musical mix. Recorded in India, Trinidad, Australia, London, New York and Baltimore, M.I.A. has crafted an international sound that is as excitingly undefinable as it is infectious. The first single from KALA, "Boyz" was just listed at #1 Rolling Stone's Hot List, and #1 song of the Month in Blender magazine! "Electrifying" - The New York Times "..It is interesting to note that, with ‘Boyz’, 30-year-old M.I.A. arguably captures a modern day Britain more successfully than many of her younger peers. Social commentary is often more powerfully delivered implicitly and the imperfect, work-in-progress rattle of ‘Boyz’ somehow mirrors the tensions and excitement of its creator’s (temporary) homeland..." Nicholas Garcia

1 Bamboo Banga [at You Tube] 2 BirdFlu [ Tamil ] [at You Tube] 3 Boyz  [also with Lyrics] [at You Tube] [also at Amazon.com] Na na na na na na na na Na na na na na na na na Boyz there - how many? Boyz there How many tequilas in the place? How many beers are in the case? Boyz there - how many? Boyz there How many dutty wine swing it away? How many shots without a chase? Boyz there - how many? Boyz there How many mash up and in a haze? How many wacky dip fall on their head? Boyz there - how many? Boyz there How many no money boyz are crazy? How many boyz are raw? How many no money boyz are rowdy? How many start a war? Ooooow gosh! Hey now Let me go Hey now Can we go riding up a dirty track up to Laventille? Could you show me for I make it back Somewhre I can chill Hey now Let me go Hey now Can we go riding on a motor bike up to Sugar Hill? Cooking chicken on the wall With the system up on full What we do now? Duppa bounce Dem der Duppa bounce 4 Jimmy [at You Tube] 5 Hussel (Featuring Afrikan Boy) 6 Mango Pickle Down River (With The Wilcannia Mob) 7 20 Dollar [at You Tube] 8 World Town [at You Tube] 9 The Turn 10 XR2 [at You Tube] 11 Paper Planes [at You Tube] 12 Come Around (Featuring Timbaland) 13 Far Far 14 Big Branch 15 What I Got