Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, better known by her stage name M.I.A., is a British recording artist, songwriter, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Her compositions combine elements of electronica, dance, alternative, hip hop and world music. M.I.A. began her career in 2000 as a visual artist, filmmaker and designer in West London before beginning her recording career in 2002. Since rising to prominence in early 2004 for her singles “Sunshowers” and “Galang”, charting in the UK and Canada and reaching number 11 on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales in the US, she has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Grammy Awards and the Mercury Prize.

In 2002, she received an Alternative Turner Prize nomination for her art. She is the only artist in history to be nominated for an Academy Award, Grammy Award, Brit Award, Mercury Prize and Alternative Turner Prize, and the first artist of Asian descent to be nominated for an Academy and Grammy Award in the same year. In 2005, M.I.A. was artist of the year by Spin and URB and M.I.A. is named as one of the defining artists of the 2000s decade by Rolling Stone in its “Best of the Decade” list. Esquire magazine ranked M.I.A. on its list of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century and Time magazine named her one of the world’s most influential people. You can hear her most recent single “Bad Girls” by clicking on the player below.