Send it home and make 'em study fixing teeth
I got a family, a friend in need
A hand to throw the gasoline
A mobile phone hooked up to the scene
Hello, my friend, yes it's me
Don't be scared there's somethin goin on
I'm getting money since I grown
Could be dash, go out and hustle 'em
But I hate money coz it makes me numb
Grind grind grind
Why has everyone got hustle on their mind?
Grind grind grind
Why has everyone got hustle on their mind?
You think it's tough now, come to Africa
You think it's tough now, come to Africa
You can catch me on the motorway,
Selling sugar, water and pepper
I rep Africa not Miami,
hustle hustle with M.I.A.
I'm broke, I've got indefinite stay,
You can't touch me like leprosy,
I hustle tough from here to Sri Lanka,
My mum told me to be an accountant,
But I wanna work in a corner shop,
Contact Sugu, he’s got the contacts, mayne
I’m illegal, I don’t pay tax tax
EMA yes I’m claiming that that
Police, I try to avoid them
They catch me hustling, they say deport them
Hustle hustle hustle
Grind grind grind
Why has everyone got hustle on their mind?
Grind grind grind
Why has everyone got hustle on their mind?
Hello, my friend, yes it's me
Hello, my friend
Yes it's me
4 by 3, 3 by 3
Buy one song, get one free
Maybe me, a bootleg CD, colour TV or DVD
We got barrels in the sea
It's big enough to take a whole family
We drum on it
Jun cha cha gegujun cha
Jun cha cha gegujun cha
Don't do bling but we do white tee
Up some jungle, up some tree
One second, my phone's rining
It's my friend Habibi
He then went drop called me
Cheap Moroccan got no credit than me
Y'all got less credit than me
I keep that tab at a shop like a G
Coz without me there'll be no chocolate hershey
Grind grind grind
Why has everyone got hustle on their mind?
Grind grind grind
Why has everyone got hustle on their mind?
Hello, my friend, yes it's me
Oh my god Jungle.Machine. You're kidding, right? It is not about a prostitute at all. It is about people in the 3rd world/disadvantaged/war areas trying to create a better world for themselves in western countries such as the UK/US, and how hard it can be and the measures they often have to go to and the injustices they face just to maintain a basic quality of life.
"eh, Afrikan Boy-- you know I'm big in Mozambique EH EH!"
This song is about poor or struggling people looking to survive in any way. That's what the hussel, the bootlegs, the white shirts, etc is about; selling stuff to survive in the new country. "We got barrels in the sea, big enough to take a whole family", again, about immigrants trying to get to the new country in any way they can in order to survive or live better. It's interesting how Maya always presents the facts that Europeans and Americans refuse to see in so many ways. It's music by an immigrant for immigrants. Anyone who is an immigrant and anyone who's been to Queens, NY, can understand this song.
"You think it's tough now, come to Africa"
leave it to a brown girl to speak the truth ;)
just another hot song with that brutish edge of truth added to it. love this chick...
"eh, Afrikan Boy-- you know I'm big in Mozambique EH EH!"
its about a prostitute. she says its hard to be a prostitute and everyone wants to "hustle" and has "hustle on their mind". She works at the "corner store".
God damn I love this song. It is so intense and stuff. MIA is amazing.
I think the line "send it home and make 'em study fixing teeth" refers to how many immigrant parents from "third-world" countries push their children to become doctors/dentists and engineers, so they can make a lot of money and lead better lives than their parents did.