A combination of the native styles and influences of these regions and her traditional and electronic musical roots, the song sees M.I.A.

Displaying elements of worldbeat, its instrumentation consists of urumee drum percussion, trumpets, tambourines, electronic scratches and synths.

Its lyrics make reference to male bravado, warlords, motorcycle and dirty track riding and dance moves originating from Jamaica, a country that inspired the song's composition.

The song made appearances in many television shows and video games since its release, and featured in the film Eat Pray Love.

Peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales, eight places higher than "Galang", "Boyz" gave M.I.A.

stated that she was looking forward to writing her second album the next year, spending six months in Jamaica and collaborating with high-profile American producers.

[2] The songwriter was unable to gain a long-term work visa to enter the US in 2006 and access the demos she had composed and stored at her New York flat.

With the visa denial, she ended up couch-surfing, sleeping at other people's houses in London, as her constant touring on dates in Canada, Argentina and Brazil meant that she no longer had a home in England.

opted to record the album at a variety of locations around the world, beginning by travelling to India following the release of "Bucky Done Gun" and the last date of her Arular Tour in Japan in February 2006.

initially travelled to Chennai, India to meet A. R. Rahman, but found it hard to communicate her ideas to him and the planned musical collaboration did not take place.

"[8] Producer Switch, who met the songwriter in Trinidad had later travelled to India purely to engineer more planned sessions, but ultimately became involved in the composition of "Boyz" and other Kala tracks.

"[12] Like fellow Kala track "Bird Flu", the song uses urumee drums, a signature instrument of gaana, a folk Tamil genre of music which M.I.A.

Incorporating this style with 22 members of the drumming group The Tapes from Chennai, the songwriter took her material to Trinidad where vocals were recorded and she absorbed influences from the country's love of soca music, a West Indian genre.

[12] The rapper wanted to "create a new way to feel music" with the song by including "ups and downs: the basic chorus, soca for the tempo, and you just fuck around with that.

"[12] Tom Breihan of the Village Voice noted that the drums on Kala were "crazy disorienting", departing heavily from those on predecessor Arular.

Sukant Chandan writing in the Green Left Weekly noted the percussion on "Boyz" contributed to the "cohesion and continuity throughout" Kala.

[5][8] As Michael Hubbard of MusicOMH notes, "Boyz" is ostensibly a ditty by a woman about the opposite sex, where the lyrics ask "how many boys are crazy and how many start a war"[17] while Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times said that the punch line of this "call-out to "no money boys" is that they go from being "crazy" and "raw" to starting a war," concluding that "Macho posturing plus poverty equals violence: There's a Third World reality that M.I.A.

"[18] The song was premiered on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show as the "Hottest Record in the World" on 24 April 2007.

's official website music store on 10 August 2007 in physical CD-single, 12" vinyl and also limited edition 512MB USB stick/wristband (released in five different colours) format.

Isaac McCalla of About.com praised the energy of the track as "bound to set feet on fire", noting how the live instrumentation of world beats, chanting and crowd noise on the song gave the recording an authentic feel, and allowed listeners to "nearly see dust kicking into the air at a tribal ceremony as the disc spins.

still "seems very keen that we should all hear what she's saying, cos that rhythm is hammered across everything, from the battered brass and pixie yells to the drunk samba drums.

"[18] Robert Christgau, writing in Rolling Stone in a highly favourable track by track review of Kala commented on the video's use of "synchronized Kingston rudies shaking their money makers for the Interscope dollar", while comparing the acute "high kiddie/girlie interjections[...] that's sustained pitchwise" on the song to the vocals on "Bird Flu".

[31] He felt that only with the fourth track on the album did a conventional song surface, but that this compositional stye employed earlier contributed well to the "heavier, noiser, more jagged" whole of Kala.

[31] Conversely, Jonathan Keefe writing in Slant Magazine felt that this was a flaw with "Boyz", stating that unlike the minimalism of "Galang," it "barely qualifies as a song and is undone as a potential club-banger by playing too loose with its rhythmic shifts.

"[32] Dan Weiss of LAS Magazine noted that the "few booming calls" on "Boyz" sounded more like "triumphant hoedowns at a summer camp than fierce indictments of foreign policy", contributing to a more calmer and scattered feel to Kala than predecessor Arular.

"[34] The Guardian Guide named "Boyz" their Single of the Week, calling it "a riotous blitz of jerky military riddims."

Similarly, Blender Magazine and Eye Weekly ranked "Boyz" as being one of the best songs released of 2007 on their respective lists.

[41] "Boyz" was featured in the Ryan Murphy-directed film Eat Pray Love and in a trailer for Dumb and Dumber To.

In the "Making of 'Boyz' video" feature, Arulpragasam stated she "wanted the frame to end up looking just like ripped-off flyer posters.

"[48] Sam Lewis of Drowned in Sound called the video "ludicrously colourful", comparing it favourably to the cover artwork of Kala.