It was released in 2003 on Showbiz Records which pressed 500 vinyl copies, gaining immediate international recognition via radio airplay, fashion shows, club rotations and internet filesharing.

'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 song comments on a weed smoking young character in London, caught in street battles, paranoid and harassed by police while looking for work in the city.

portrays the singer in several costumes roaming and dancing amidst stencils of her single artwork and images from her 2001 Alternative Turner Prize nominated exhibition, animated in the background.

With the video, scholars note that multiple M.I.A.s appear against a backdrop of militaristic animated graffiti, utilising symbolism of urban Britain and war, tiger imagery and Tamil script stencils.

The video was given vitality by the bold use of day-glo colour and her distinct design technique in the art, her costumes and music, triggering the new rave revolution upon its release.

"Galang" has been covered by jazz pianist Vijay Iyer and is officially remixed by Serj Tankian and Dave Kelly, both appearing on the B-side of its 2005 reedition.

The song has appeared in the feature film Pride and Glory, a commercial for Honda Civic and the television series Sherlock and Entourage.

[15] Steve Mackey and Ross Orton, under the name Cavemen, worked further on "Galang" with M.I.A in a professional studio, where she added a bass line and new vocals to give the song a more analogue sound than was possible with the 505.

[17] Upon pressing 500 12-inch vinyl copies of the single and demo, it made an immediate impact in dance clubs, college radio, fashion shows and record labels.

[22] This led to wide acclaim for the singer, who is hailed as one of the first artists to build a large fanbase exclusively via these channels and as someone who could be studied to reexamine the internet's impact on how listeners are exposed to new music.

"[32] The rapper performed "Galang" and a cover of the rock band Kaiser Chiefs' "Everyday I Love You Less and Less" on Jo Whiley's BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge, on 6 September 2005, the day of the 2005 Mercury Music Prize ceremony.

[33] "Galang" earned massive critical success upon its release, with its novelty, genre amalgamation and lyrics highlighted as positive features of the song, and typical of the compositions on Arular.

"[34] Spin noted that the rapper "kicks fierce digitized double Dutch rhymes in a room full of bug zappers" before declaring the song to be "more addictive than online poker.

NME described the song as "100 per cent ersatz: Sri Lanka imagined from a Shoreditch loft, Jamaican riddim conjured up from a GameBoy memory card."

The reviewer implored listeners to not "be fooled by the sweetness of Maya's singalong patois, though", concluding that "'Galang' secretes a martial edge under its seductive exterior; this is a song that advances on you, knife between clenched teeth" and that the single as a whole was effortlessly brilliant.

told Negar Azimi of Bidoun she had collaborated with Steve Loveridge to spray paint her original artwork for the video, who worked in a car park while it rained.

's personal style "might be a little harder to imitate but believe me I will try – the b-girl vacations in the tropics, but won’t ever forsake her kicks for a pair of thongs (cuz she's gotta dance)", concluding "When you see the video you feel familiar with the visuals, but that's just because you WISH.

's music and lyrics; tanks, grenades and burning palm trees figure prominently in her work, but are presented in the video in bright, kaleidoscopic colours using stencils and Day-Glo spray paint.

's approach was an artistic risk, given the "superficial, ephermeral" nature of her chosen media – graffiti stencil art and popular music.

The two-dimensional stencils and the catchy hooks can only subvert the audience's role after their immediate appeal has worn off, and they lack the breadth to contain a full alternative program."

[48] Critics from Slant noted that against a backdrop of graffitied third-world signifiers—tigers, cell phones, palm trees, tanks, bombs—that pulsated along to the song's beats, M.I.A.

[40] Amy Phillips of Pitchforkmedia noted, following M.I.A's performance of "Galang" mashed up with "Lip Gloss" by Lil' Mama at the Terminal 5 club, CMJ Music Marathon, KALA Tour, how "Galang" served as a reminder of how much the mainstream pop, dance, rap musical landscape had shifted since M.I.A first appeared in 2004 with songs from Arular, highlighting megahits such as Fergie's "London Bridge" as having come to resemble M.I.A's sound.

Steve Yates of The Guardian highlights the similarity between the latter and "Galang", which the head of Interscope Records Jimmy Iovine described as another case of M.I.A inspiring other artists.

[49] Resemblances between "Galang" and Beck's 2005 track "Clap Hands" have been noted by music critics, as have similarities between the video and artwork to that of Rihanna's 2010 hit "Rude Boy".

[50][51] The uploading of "Galang" on social networking site MySpace in 2004 and its video's subsequent release and propagation led to the song and "Sunshowers" becoming the web's first viral successes and have contributed towards M.I.A's reputation as being "several miles" ahead of the pack in the music industry.

[52] Hattie Collins of The Guardian noted how the songs of the album showcased M.I.A as a quirky female singer/rapper "before the Mini Allens had worked out how to log on to MySpace.

"[52] When asked by Craig McLean of Spin about how she felt towards paving the way for Lily Allen's success, the singer was quoted as saying "she works with the same sort of sound, similar vibes to it, you just make a template.

Of course, if you're the first one to do it it's really hard" but added that her familiarity with being an outsider and the privilege of artists such as Allen meant she was not frustrated that others had taken her template and sold more records with it, noting "I'm used to dealing with those situations better.

"[53] Eddy Lawrence of Time Out commented how "Galang" alongside M.I.A's other releases helped make the singer a carnival queen and everyone's favourite "grime/electro/ravehall artist – beloved of the broadsheet fashionistas yet simultaneously patron saint and pin-up for the Day-Glo nu-rave kids."