Songfacts®:

• Before she was a full-time musician, the Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A. was an artist, and was hired to make the cover of Elastica's 2000 album The Menace. She also joined the band on tour, helping film them. This encouraged her to start her own music career, and with the help of Elastica lead singer Justine Frischmann, Pulp bass player Steve Mackey and producer Ross Orton, she wrote this song. M.I.A. said of the track: "I just wanted to put down all the advice everyone had said to me about how to survive in London." >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Bertrand - Paris, France
• The song was first released on an Indie record label that only pressed 500 vinyl copies. In 2005, it was re released on a larger record label: XL Recordings. This second version was called "Galang '05." >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  amy - Baltimore, MD
• "Galang" is a Jamaican term meaning "Go In."
• M.I.A. named the album after her estranged father. She explained: "My mum always used to say about my father, 'He was so useless, all he ever gave you was his name.' So I turned it around and turned that something into nothing. And at the same time I thought it would be a good way to find him. If he really was an egomaniac, he'd be looking himself up and he'd get this pop album stealing his name that would turn out to be me, and he'd have to get in touch."
  
  The plan worked, but her father only contacted her for one reason: to ask her to change the name of the album.