Biography for
Maya Arulpragasam More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

18 July 1975, Hounslow, London, England, UK

Birth Name

Maganthi Maya Arulpragasam

Nickname

Maya

Height

5' 5½" (1.66 m)

Trivia

Raised in Sri Lanka, where her father was a guerilla fighter.

Was born in Hounslow, London. When she was six months old, her family moved back to their native Sri Lanka.

She eventually returned to her birthplace in London, where she and her family were housed as refugees.

Some of her early influences were: Public Enemy, Big Daddy Kane, Roxanne Shante and N.W.A

Went to London's Central Saint Martins Art School, where she studied fine art, film and video.

"M.I.A." is an acronym for Missing In Acton, in reference to the gritty section of London she lived in.

Her first public art exhibition show was nominated for the alternative Turner prize, every painting sold and a monograph book of the collection was published by Pocko.

After hearing his single, "News Flash", and loving it, Arulpragasam tracked down and met with Diplo, the Mississippi-born DJ originally named Wesley Pentz, to work on some material.

Her father was 'Arul Pragasam', leader of 'Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students'(aka EROS) one of the main Tamil anti-government organization operating in Sri Lanka.

Her debut album, Arular, was released in America in March 2005

She is of Sri Lankan descent.

Announced that she and her boyfriend, Ben Brewer, are expecting their first child. [October 13, 2008].

Performed at the Grammy Awards on February 8, 2009 although it was the day she was due to give birth to her first child.

Her first child, a son, was born on February 11, 2009.

Personal Quotes

Those records were rhythmic, so whether you understood the language or not, you could understand the music.

"It had that same homelessness about it. It didn't have a particular genre, which is what people always say to me: Your song doesn't fit anywhere. So I went on a mad mission to find other people like that, because then we could make a home." - her thoughts when she heard one of Diplo's songs for the first time.