M.I.A.

Trivia

• Asked in 2005 if she was always political, M.I.A. referenced her political development.
• Politics and global ideas are prominent in M.I.A.'s art.
• Originally completed and ready for release in September 2004, Arular's release was delayed over several months, with pushed back dates of release between December 2004 and February 2005 mentioned.
• Arulpragasam's first public exhibition of paintings in 2001 at the Euphoria Shop in Portobello Road, London, featured graffiti art and spray-paint canvasses mixing Tamil political street art with images of London life and consumerist culture.
• In 2009, TIME magazine placed M.I.A. in the Time 100 list of "World's Most Influential people" for having "global influence across many genres".
• She is the founder of the record label N.E.E.T.
• Her compositions have been noted to encompass various genres, often with political lyricism and artwork.
• Maya released her Mercury Prize-nominated debut album Arular in 2005.
• An accomplished visual artist by 2002, M.I.A. came to prominence in early 2004 through file-sharing of her singles "Galang" and "Sunshowers" on the Internet.
• Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam is a British songwriter, record producer, singer, fashion designer, and artist of Sri Lankan Tamil origin.

Quotes

• "Nobody wants to be dancing to political songs. Every bit of music out there that’s making it into the mainstream is really about nothing. I wanted to see if I could write songs about something important and make it sound like nothing. And it kind of worked."
• "I have to be true to that--I can't take certain things away. I do have a political background. I’m only in England, learning this language and building a life in this society, because of political reasons. Why would I deny that?"
• "It had that same homelessness about it. It didn't have a particular genre, which is what people always say to me: Your song doesn't fit anywhere. So I went on a mad mission to find other people like that, because then we could make a home."