Trivia / M.I.A.

• She Also Did: In her days of graphic design, she designed the album cover for The Menace by Brit Pop group Elastica.
• Older Than They Look: Many people are genuinely shocked to find out that she's in her mid 40s.
• Promoted Fanboy: She was a big fan of Indian composer A.R. Rahman, and when M.I.A. went to his studio to record Kala, she discovered Rahman loved her debut album as he told "Cut this 'my idol' crap. You have to teach me." Both would eventually write a song for Slumdog Millionaire, which he scored, even scoring an Oscar nom.
• Revival by Commercialization: Her song "Borders" plays during the credits of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.
• Studio Chatter: Laughter can be heard in the background of "Mango Pickle Down River."
• What Could Have Been: She initially wanted to be a producer rather than perform herself - at one point she tried asking Caribbean girls she met in clubs to sing over the music she'd written. Around the same time, she wanted to give "Galang" to Elastica, who were on the verge of breaking up at the time; Their singer, Justine Frischmann, listened to the demo and was impressed, but encouraged her to perform it herself.