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Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam (born July 17, 1977)[1] better known by her stage name M.I.A., is a British songwriter, record producer, vocalist and visual artist of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Her music has been noted to encompass various genres, often with political lyricism. Her artwork and clothes feature similar topics and have distinctive, often vibrant colours. M.I.A. has described her music style as being "other" although she has cited different cultural influences in her work.[2] ================================= An accomplished visual artist by 2002, she came to prominence in early 2004 through file-sharing of her singles "Galang" and "Sunshowers" on the Internet.[3] In 2005, her debut album, Arular, was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her second album, Kala, was released in 2007. Her single "Paper Planes" was particularly commercially successful in 2008. In addition to her work as a graphic designer, providing artwork and photography for releases and as a director of music videos, she has also experimented with documentary film and in 2008 released a collection of her fashion designs. ================================= Personal background Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, the daughter of Tamilian parents Kala Arulpragasam and activist-turned militant, Arul Pragasam, was born in Hounslow, London. When she 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.[4][5] Her alias, M.I.A., stands for both Missing in Acton and Missing in Action.[6] Arulpragasam has an older sister, Kali Arulpragasam, and a younger brother, Sugu. Due to the conflict, the first years of her life were 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.[7][6] 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.[7][8] Later resettling in Jaffna again, the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka deteriorated further and the family once again tried to flee the country.[7][8] Eventually, Arulpragasam, her two siblings and mother Kala moved back to London where they were housed as refugees.[7] It was in the late '80s, on a council estate in Mitcham (South London), that Arulpragasam began to learn English.[5] Arulpragasam speaks English and the Tamil language fluently. Arulpragasam graduated from London's Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, with a degree in fine art, film and video.[9] She currently lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York in the US and is engaged to Benjamin Brewer, singer and guitarist for the band The Exit.[10][11] They are currently expecting their first child together.