You have to constantly redefine who you are. M.I.A. More Quotes by M.I.A. More Quotes From M.I.A. It could be the sort of declining grip of the American MTV-nation culture-the fact that MTV doesn't play so much music anymore. M.I.A. mtv play culture What's wrong with hip-hop [is that] it became so one-dimensional; it became like a businessman thing. It's run out of creativity. It went so far off about making money that now everyone can do it. M.I.A. creativity hip-hop running I just think that funerals are a lot like death itself. You can have your wishes, your plans, but at the end of the day, it's out of your control. M.I.A. funeral wish thinking Retirement: a brand new beginning! How wonderful! M.I.A. new-beginnings wonderful retirement My uncle was the first brown person to have a market stall on Petticoat Lane in the 1960s. He worked his way up from the street. He was homeless, but eventually he got a car so he could sell from the boot. And by the 1980s, he was a millionaire wholesaling to companies like Topshop. So in a way, fashion put me in England. M.I.A. uncles car fashion Before the Greeks were the Tamils. The Tamils are one of the oldest civilizations thats still surviving. M.I.A. stills greek civilization I dont support terrorism and never have. As a Sri Lankan that fled war and bombings, my music is the voice of the civilian refugee. M.I.A. support voice war Matangi's mantra is aim, which is MIA backwards. She fights for freedom of speech and stands for truth, and lives in the ghetto because her dad was the first person in Hindu mythology who came from the 'hood, but had gained enlightenment through not being a Brahmin. M.I.A. freedom-of-speech dad freedom truth It is a coincidence that Mathangi is the Goddess of Music and the spoken word, which can be rap. M.I.A. goddess rap music coincidence My dad grew up in a mud hut and studied by candlelight. He was 14 when he got a scholarship to Russia. He was super clever - the cleverest person. He landed in 5ft of snow, and was alone at 14, studying science and engineering. He didn't have a bed, and he slept on a table. M.I.A. alone dad snow science I'm just so grateful for the 10 years that I had in Sri Lanka when it was in the middle of a war and I was getting shot at, because now and again I remember glimpses of those times, and I just go, 'Wow, I'll never, ever see that again in my life. And I'm never gonna feel that, and I'm never gonna feel for a human being like that.' M.I.A. my-life grateful war life I don't intentionally go: 'Ooh, what is provocative,' and try to do that. I just do stuff, and people go: 'Ooh, that's provocative.' M.I.A. just try go people I was shot at for being a Tamil in Sri Lanka, and then, everyone was calling me a Paki in London, and I'm not even Pakistani. M.I.A. everyone being me london Sri Lanka is an island off the coast of India. There's two ethnicities there; one the Sinhalese, which is the majority and the government, and the minority, who are the Tamils. That's where I'm from. And my lifetime sort of began there; I spent 10 years, and I was there during when the war started and fled as a refugee to England. M.I.A. island india government war Human beings around the world have to be taught to go, 'Tamil equals Tamil civilians first, and the Tamil Tiger is a separate thing.' And both of those groups are different. It's like a square and a circle. M.I.A. tiger circle go world I don't think immigrants are that threatening to society at all. They're just happy they've survived some war somewhere. M.I.A. think society happy war My father had no influence on my political beliefs, and to imply otherwise is wrong and irresponsible. M.I.A. wrong influence political father Tamils all over the world have a sense of belonging to the world itself, but our ancient roots come from India. I would like to explore India. I will keep coming back. This is the closest I can get to home. M.I.A. i-can roots home world You have, in America, you have gang signs. Well, 5,000 years ago, there was thing called a mudra, which is your sitting position when you do yoga or you're meditating or you're praying or whatever. And there's not a lot of them that are named after gods and goddesses, but the middle-finger is specifically named the Matangi mudra. M.I.A. your you gang sitting 'Paper Planes' was an accident. It wasn't a song we made for the masses. It took two years to get popular, and there were many fights about censoring the gunshot sounds. M.I.A. accident paper song two
