Borders

"Borders" is a song by recording artist M.I.A.. The track was written by M.I.A., Levi Lennox and Amish Patel, and has been described as an electronic song incorporating such musical styles as hip-hop and world music. M.I.A. reportedly wrote "Borders" in two hours, which is the quickest she has ever written a song. Lyrically, the song references current world problems and reflects on the popular culture. The single was made available for online streaming on 20 November 2015, but was pulled later the same day. It was released globally as a digital single on 27 November 2015, accompanied by its socially and politically charged music video which went viral and sparked controversy. Time Magazine has named it one of the best videos of 2015.

[Intro] Freedom, 'I'dom, 'Me'dom Where's your 'We'dom? This world needs a brand new 'Re'dom We'dom - the key We'dom the key'dom to life! Let's be 'dem We'dom smart phones Don't be dumb! [Verse 1] Borders (What's up with that?) Politics (What's up with that?) Police shots (What's up with that?) Identities (What's up with that?) Your privilege (What's up with that?) Broke people (What's up with that?) Boat people (What's up with that?) The realness (What's up with that?) The new world (What's up with that?) Am gonna keep up on all that [Chorus] Guns blow doors to the system Yeah fuck 'em when we say we're not with them We're solid and we don't need to kick them This is North, South, East, and Western Guns blow doors to the system Yeah fuck 'em when we say we're not with them We're solid and we don't need to kick them This is North, South, East, and Western [Verse 2] Queen (What's up with that?) Killing it (What's up with that?) Slaying it (What's up with that?) Your goals (What's up with that?) Being bae (What's up with that?) Making money (What's up with that?) Breaking internet (What's up with that?) Love wins (What's up with that?) Living it (What's up with that?) Being real (What's up with that?) [Chorus] Guns blow doors to the system Yeah fuck 'em when we say we're not with them We're solid and we don't need to kick them This is North, South, East, and Western Guns blow doors to the system Yeah fuck 'em when we say we're not with them We're solid and we don't need to kick them This is North, South, East, and Western [Bridge] We representing peeps, they don't play us on the FM We talkin' in our sleep, they still listen on a system We sittin' on a stoop Where we get a scoop This is how we keep it cool This is how we do We representing peeps, they don't play us on the FM We talkin' in our sleep, they still listen on a system We sittin' on a stoop Where we get a scoop This is how we keep it cool This is how we do [Verse 3] Egos (What's up with that?) Your values (What's up with that?) Your beliefs (What's up with that?) Your families (What's up with that?) Histories (What's up with that?) Your future (What's up with that?) My boys (What's up with that?) My girls (What's up with that?) Freedom (What's up with that?) Your power (What's up with that?) [Chorus] Guns blow doors to the system Yeah fuck 'em when we say we're not with them We're solid and we don't need to kick them This is North, South, East, and Western Guns blow doors to the system Yeah fuck 'em when we say we're not with them We're solid and we don't need to kick them This is North, South, East, and Western [Bridge] We representing peeps, they don't play us on the FM We talkin' in our sleep, they still listen on a system We sittin' on a stoop Where we get a scoop This is how we keep it cool This is how we do We representing peeps, they don't play us on the FM We talkin' in our sleep, they still listen on a system We sittin' on a stoop Where we get a scoop This is how we keep it cool This is how we do [Outro] Gonna keep up on all that Gonna be doing it like that Gonna keep up on all that Gonna be doing it like that