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4. M.I.A.

The 40-year-old indie rapper best known for songs like “Paper Planes” and “Bring the Noize” was born in London to Tamil parents. M.I.A.’s family returned to their native Sri Lanka when she was an infant. Her politically active father was dedicated to making Sri Lanka the family’s home, but they were forced into hiding. M.I.A. has admitted that her adolescent was plagued by the violent Sri Lankan civil war. The escalation of the conflict forced her mother to bring the family back to London when she was 11.

MIA
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