"Teqkilla" is a song by British recording artist M.I.A. from her third studio album, ''

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

'' (2010). The track was written by Maya "M.I.A." Arulpragasam,

Rusko Rusko () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipali ...

Switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...

John Hill John Hill may refer to: Business * John Henry Hill (1791–1882), American businessman, educator and missionary * John Hill (planter) (1824–1910), Scottish-born American industrialist and planter * John Hill (businessman) (1847–1926), Austral ...

and Cherry Byron-Withers. Production of the song was handled by M.I.A., Rusko, Switch and Hill. The song references

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

and

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...

in its lyrics. M.I.A. namechecks several brands of alcohol, notably

Chivas Regal Chivas Regal () is a blended Scotch whisky manufactured by Chivas Brothers, which is part of Pernod Ricard. It was founded in 1786, with its home being in the Strathisla distillery at Keith, Moray in Speyside, Scotland, and is the oldest contin ...

, owned by

Seagram The Seagram Company Ltd. (which traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Originally a distiller of Canadian whisky based in Waterloo, Ontario, it was once (in the 1990s) the lar ...

, which in turn belonged to her then-fiancé

Benjamin Bronfman Benjamin Zachary Bronfman (born August 6, 1982) is an American entrepreneur and musician. Bronfman is a strategic advisor and principal investor with Algae Systems, a carbon capture project and an associate managing director at Global Thermosta ...

's family. The song was released worldwide as a digital download, under license to

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. Although only releasing an average of six album ...

and

N.E.E.T. Recordings N.E.E.T. Recordings was a vanity record label of Sri Lankan English hip hop recording artist M.I.A. as an imprint of Interscope Records in 2008. N.E.E.T. is an acronym for " Not in Education, Employment or Training". The first artist signed to ...

, on 16 June 2010 as the fourth single from the album. The 'Lost My Fone Out wiv Nicki Minaj Remix' of the song was made available in July 2010, and features a guest verse by

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accent ...

. M.I.A. performed "Teqkilla" at the

2010 Scream Awards The Scream Awards is an award show dedicated to the horror, sci-fi, and fantasy genres of feature films, hosted and sponsored by Spike. The show was created by executive producers Michael Levitt, Cindy Levitt, and Casey Patterson. The performer on ...

, and during the

Maya Tour The Maya Tour (stylized as /\/\ /\ Y /\ Tour) is a 2010 global M.I.A. concert tour performed in support of her third studio album ''Maya'' (see 2010 in music). It began on 21 September 2010 in North America and was M.I.A.'s third major global p ...

in 2010 and 2011. No music video was made for the single.

Critical response

The track received mixed opinions from music critics. It has been described as "a little insubstantial" and a "throwaway", and its lyrics referred to as "inane" and "nonsense". Some also criticized the track's running time of over 6 minutes. On the other hand, "Teqkilla" was noted for its "rousing beat" and "catchy chorus", and named not only "one of the better songs from the album", but also one of the 10 best M.I.A. songs ever.

Track listing

;Digital download # "Teqkilla" – 6:19

Charts

Release history

References

{{M.I.A. 2010 singles 2010 songs Electronic songs M.I.A. (rapper) songs Songs about alcohol Songs written by M.I.A. (rapper) XL Recordings singles Songs written by Switch (songwriter) Songs written by John Hill (record producer) N.E.E.T. Recordings singles