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Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam (born 17 July 1977) is a British vocalist, record producer,  songwriter/composer and visual artist. She is a Tamilian of Sri Lankan descent. Best known by her stage name, M.I.A., her work in music often features a range of elements of genres. 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. In 2005, her debut album, Arular, was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her second album, Kala, was released in 2007. | C B C Interview | Interview | Interview |  |  |  |
M.I.A, the daughter of a Tamil activist-turned militant, Arul Pragasam, was born in Hounslow, London. When M.I.A was six months of age, her family moved back to their native Sri Lanka, motivated by his wish to support the Tamil militancy in Sri Lanka, 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 both Missing in Acton and Missing in Action. | I T W M.I.A Sic Radical | M.I. A World Town | Best Story Ever |  |  |  |
Arulpragasam has an older sister, Kali, and a younger brother, Sugu. Due to the conflict, much of her young life was spent moving from home to home. Contact with her father was strictly limited, as she says he was in hiding from the Sri Lanka Army. As the civil war escalated, it became unsafe for the family to stay in Sri Lanka, so they relocated to Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, moving into a derelict house, with sporadic visits from her father. They later settled in Jaffna again. By now, the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka was at its peak, and the family once again tried to flee the country. | Live - Jimmy | Live - Bucky Done Gun | Live - Bamboo Banga |  |  |  |
Eventually, Arulpragasam, her two siblings and mother Kala made it back to London where they were housed as refugees. It was in the late '80s, on a council estate in Mitcham (South London), 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 neighbours' flats. Her affinity for hip-hop and rap began from there. Acts including Public Enemy, Big Daddy Kane, Roxanne Shante and N.W.A. would become just some of her early music influences. Arulpragasam attended London's Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, where she studied fine art, film and video. Arulpragasam currently lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York in the US and is reportedly engaged to Benjamin Brewer, singer and guitarist for the band The Exit.
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