M.I.A. – Hussel

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[M.I.A.:]
We do it cheap, hide our money in a heap
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

Hustle hustle hustle
Grind grind grind
Why has everyone got hustle on their mind?

Hustle hustle hustle
Grind grind grind
Why has everyone got hustle on their mind?

[Afrikan Boy:]
You think it's tough now, come to Africa
You think it's tough now, come to Africa

Out there, we are grinding like pepper
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

[M.I.A.:]
Hustle hustle hustle
Grind grind grind
Why has everyone got hustle on their mind?

Hustle hustle hustle
Grind grind grind
Why has everyone got hustle on their mind?
Afican boy ya know I'm big in Mozambique
Hello, my friend, yes it's me

Hello, my friend
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

Come sit by me, let me tell you, we
Don't do bling but we do white tee
Up some jungle, up some tree
One second, my phone's ringing
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

Hustle hustle hustle
Grind grind grind
Why has everyone got hustle on their mind?

Hustle hustle hustle
Grind grind grind
Why has everyone got hustle on their mind? [6x]

Send "Hussel" Ringtone to Cell


Lyrics submitted by lalunacreciente

Track duration: 04:24

"Hussel" as written by Mathangi Arulpragasam, David James Andrew Taylor, Thomas Wesley Pentz

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Hussel song meanings
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9 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment: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.
    Flag zeusinfurson May 03, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment: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.
    Flag andruchinaon January 20, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:God damn I love this song. It is so intense and stuff. MIA is amazing.
    Flag garedelyonon October 28, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment: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.
    Flag hkbmon August 29, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment: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".
    Flag Jungle.Machineon April 18, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"eh, Afrikan Boy--
    you know I'm big in Mozambique EH EH!"
    Flag precipitateon September 13, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:"eh, Afrikan Boy--
    you know I'm big in Mozambique EH EH!"
    Flag precipitateon September 13, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:just another hot song with that brutish edge of truth added to it. love this chick...
    Flag jterranceon September 05, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"You think it's tough now, come to Africa"

    leave it to a brown girl to speak the truth ;)
    Flag killstaron August 23, 2007   Link

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