Who Is MIA? First South Asian To Perform At Coachella

Who is MIA? Her name is Mathangi Maya Arulpragasam and she goes by the stage name of M.I.A, which is the generally accepted acronym for Missing In Action. The British-Tamil rapper and singer is of the first person of South Asian descent to perform at one of the largest and most famous music festivals in the world, Coachella.

MIA performed at Coachella in 2005 and it was her first performance at a festival. Before this, she had only done five shows. Her performance there is considered one of the most memorable performances. Talking about it, M.I.A told the Rolling Stones magazine, "In the history of Coachella it was the first time they got an encore in a tent. They dismantled the stage and had to put it back together because all the people started going, 'MIA! MIA!'"

She performed again in 2008 and then a few months after giving birth to her first child in 2009, she performed once more. Other than being a performer, she is a record producer and an activist. Her songs reflect her political and social notions on topics like immigration, war and identity. Her songs are a combination of electronic, hip hop and world music.

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Who Is MIA?

Born in London on July 18, 1975, she was six months old when her Tamil parents moved back to Sri Lanka. At the age of 11, she and her parents were forced to leave Sri Lanka and live in London as refugees due to the Sri Lankan Civil War.

She started as a visual artist and filmmaker in 2000 and switched her career to recording in 2002. She became popular with her first single titled Sunshowers and Galang in 2004. Post which there was no looking back for her.

Her first two titled named Arular in 2005 and Kala in 2007 received critical acclamation. One of the songs Paper Planes from Kala went to rank number four on the US Billboard Hot 100. She has won many awards since then for her music and was even featured as one of the 100 most influential people in 2009 by TIME.

Her connection with the arts goes way back to the time when she was a student. At the time she published a monogram book of her painting M.I.A, it was heavily influenced by the Tamil rebellion. She later did photography and graphics with Elastica.

She got engaged and married Benjamin Bronfman, who is an American entrepreneur and musician. They have a son together.

(Feature Image Credit: Brown History/Instagram)