About M.I.A.Half musician and half visual artist, M.I.A. - the stage name of Mathangi Arulpragasam - is of Sri Lankan Tamil origin, and litters her musical output with references to the ethnic group's struggles in her homeland. Having come to fame through 'blogosphere' hype surrounding her multi-cultural alt. electronic sounds, she later signed for the iconic Interscope records, and was named by Time Magazine as one of the '100 most influential people' due to her trans-national political noise-making. Jarring debut album Arular is spattered with pan-lingual slang and insightful social commentary, and won her touring slots with Gwen Stefani and Roots Manuva. Second offering Kava features instrumentation from around the world, and focuses once again on immigration issues and social politics. Moody and beat driven, Kava was widely seen as a more brooding product than Arular, and featured the hit single Paper Planes, which was later used in the film Slumdog Millionaire.