412,424 plays (84,296 listeners)
What inspired her to write the song & what is the background?
“When I was like 5-years-old in India, I got to sing this nursery rhyme and win the first prize . I won a bucket, because they always give you prizes that are really, really useful for poor people at home. You’d get a bucket or a broom or a mat. So when I went home, I just always remembered this song . . . So when I tried to do a song, Richard X asked me if I knew any Tamil, and I was like, “Yeah, I speak fluent Tamil.” And then I went in there with some ideas that I wanted to do something really Tamil on this song, you know. So I did the first , the “hey, hey” bit, which to me sounded really Tamil. I was trying to get in touch with that part of me. And then it so happened that the whole content of this song turned into this thing about dial-a-brides on the internet. You could get girls that come over and marry people for visas. I felt like it was such a third world issue thing to have to live with; women thinking like that and having that sort of mentality. And I really wanted to articulate what that nursery rhyme meant at the time, ‘cause I never knew it. And when my mom told me that’s what it was about, then I wrote the song about it.”
“It’s basically - Brahman kids are like Catholic kids; they’re really strict. And being a Brahman in India is the highest caste you could be, and they’re really religious. In India there’s a stereotype that loads of street prostitutes are all Brahman kids that ran away.
“When I was like 5-years-old in India, I got to sing this nursery rhyme and win the first prize . I won a bucket, because they always give you prizes that are really, really useful for poor people at home. You’d get a bucket or a broom or a mat. So when I went home, I just always remembered this song . . . So when I tried to do a song, Richard X asked me if I knew any Tamil, and I was like, “Yeah, I speak fluent Tamil.” And then I went in there with some ideas that I wanted to do something really Tamil on this song, you know. So I did the first , the “hey, hey” bit, which to me sounded really Tamil. I was trying to get in touch with that part of me. And then it so happened that the whole content of this song turned into this thing about dial-a-brides on the internet. You could get girls that come over and marry people for visas. I felt like it was such a third world issue thing to have to live with; women thinking like that and having that sort of mentality. And I really wanted to articulate what that nursery rhyme meant at the time, ‘cause I never knew it. And when my mom told me that’s what it was about, then I wrote the song about it.”
“It’s basically - Brahman kids are like Catholic kids; they’re really strict. And being a Brahman in India is the highest caste you could be, and they’re really religious. In India there’s a stereotype that loads of street prostitutes are all Brahman kids that ran away.
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Shouts
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Fjallman wrote:
man, M.I.A. had more life experience at 20 than I'll probably ever have. Supreme lyricist!
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shutup_caf wrote:
AMAZING
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DJQuietly wrote:
This whole album fuckin' -bangs- with a couple of 12's. One of my favorite tracks, right here.
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MixedCharts wrote:
Peace out. she'll kill you like uma <3<3<3 fuckin good song is like heroin with crystal meth so addictive.
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CosmicFugue wrote:
This song keeps pulling me back in like a tractor beam.
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gabspeck wrote:
She skipped away to the shop She found she didn't have enough She clocked him looking right at her And sucked on a lollipaaawwp :D
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Jetkidd wrote:
ADDICTIVE
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kuhuidfshjdfsuz wrote:
10 dollar is way better than 20 dollar i hate 20 dollar the weakest song of kala but the rest is amazing
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Starless_night wrote:
I just realized on Kala there is a 20$... wonder if that was planned.
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rcaz wrote:
10 dollar >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 20 dollar
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w_1_7 wrote:
"What can i get for 10 dolla? < Anything you want! < Fuck gold she was Platinum digga!" have to be my favorite lyrics lol
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kot_w_butach wrote:
20 dollar > 10 dollar but 10 dollar is still an awesome song
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evermorobar wrote:
10 dollar > 20 dollar
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aixime wrote:
I cannot get tired of listening to this song. It's so great! :D *dances*
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Dudecrush wrote:
I wonder how many people (*cough*bimbo girls*cough*) singing along to this understand what it's about.
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hotterthanjuly wrote:
Why wasn't this a single, damn it?? I popped that booty all day long dancing to this.
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ohdearindeed wrote:
Lolita was a man eater Clocked him like a taxi meter Fuck gold she was platinum digger
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JTaylors1stgirl wrote:
anything u want <3
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arrioch wrote:
I like 20 Dollar better, probably cause i like Pixies.. But they are both great, as any other MIA's song, and they are just too different to be compared..
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inphanta wrote:
Sick. I always drop this in sets when I DJ.
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