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"Galang" is a song by British musician M.I.A. from her debut album Arular. It was released on Showbiz Records in 2003 as her first single, which pressed 500 vinyl copies, gaining immediate international recognition via radio airplay, fashion shows, club rotations and internet filesharing. "Galang" was re-released on 1 November 2004 via XL Recordings as the second single from the album released by the label and was released for a third time as "Galang '05" on 11 October 2005 by the label and in the US by Interscope Records. It is written by Maya "M.I.A." Arulpragasam, Justine Frischmann, Ross Orton and Steve Mackey. It first appeared on M.I.A.'s six song demo tape in 2003, her official MySpace account on 9 June 2004 and was later reworked slightly by Orton and Mackey who received production credit for the song. "Galang" was the second song M.I.A. wrote on her Roland MC-505, intending for the piece to be performed by Frischmann's band Elastica. Inspired by her experiences and observations of life in London, M.I.A. wrote the song to encourage her friends in the band to continue to make music. However, after cowriting the song, Frischmann convinced M.I.A. to record "Galang" herself, complimenting the piece's lyrical narrative and music direction.
Musically, "Galang" is a dance-oriented midtempo song, combining elements of dancehall, electro, jungle, and world music. M.I.A.'s voice is heard in a whooping chant-like rap over polyrhythmic Roland MC-505 arrangements of beats, drums, claps and synths along the song's bassline. The word 'galang' comes from the Jamaican patois slang word for 'go on'. The lyrics of the song are ambiguous, and could be interpreted differently by listeners, containing hidden innuendo to cannabis use, sex, and violence and acknowledgement of songs such as "London Calling". The song comments on a weed smoking young character in Iraq War/post 9/11 period London, caught in street battles, paranoid and chased by police while looking for work in the city. "Galang" was a major critical success amongst contemporary and older critics, who frequently hail its sound and lyrics as novel, reflective and ahead of their time. It charted in the UK and Canada and reached number 11 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales.
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