Maya Arulpragasam

There are few South Asian [diasporic] international musicians out there. M.I.A. is one of them. Having discovered her in college, the only thing that really attracts me to her music is the occasional awesome layering of South-Indian beats into her music. This is one example, and a pretty good one. Usually her songs leave me disturbed and somewhat confused (youtube "paper planes" and you'll see what I mean) but the rhythm is undoubtedly addictive.

Again, lyrically, you may leave this song scratching your head. But that's ok! She has that effect on people...