Arular

"Galang" is the first single from M.I.A.'s album Arular. It is written by Maya Arulpragasam (a.k.a. M.I.A.), Justine Frischmann, Ross Orton and Steve Mackey. The word 'galang' comes from the Jamaican patois for 'go on'. The first time Arulpragasam released "Galang", in 2003, it was released on an indie label, Showbiz Records, who only pressed 500 vinyl copies of the single. As a result of her fame, it was re-released in November 2004 when she signed to XL Records and was re-released for a third time as "Galang '05" in 2005. Read more on Last.fm.

Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam also known as M.I.A., (born 18 July 1975 in Hounslow, London, U.K.) is a British artist of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. As a baby she moved with her family to their native Sri Lanka, where her father became increasingly politically active in militant activities. As the Civil War escalated the rest of the family was forced to flee as refugees, first to India and then the UK. “M.I.A.” [“Missing In Action”] references both her London neighborhood (Acton) and her politically tumultuous youth. Her style contains elements of hip-hop, reggae, alternative, dance hall, electro and baile funk and is strongly inspired by her Sri Lankan background. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.