Day After Day #246: Paper Planes

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Paper Planes (2007)

Sampling has been a big part of popular music for more than 40 years, but you need more than a great sample to make a great song. On "Paper Planes," British-Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A. had both, using the intro to the Clash's "Straight to Hell" as her intro as well, providing a great fakeout (for Clash fans, anyway; now, people hear it and think of "Paper Planes"). But M.I.A.'s song stands on its own both as a political statement and a catchy-as-hell iconic jam.

Born in London, Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam moved to Sri Lanka with her family when she was six months old. The family returned to London when she was 11 as refugees after the Sri Lankan Civil War broke out. She began working as a visual artist, filmmaker and designer in 2000. 

After meeting Justine Frischmann of Elastica, Arulpragasam was hired to create the cover art for Elastica's 2000 album The Menace. She went on the road with the band to document their tour and was encouraged by opening act Peaches to start making music. She took the name M.I.A. (for Missing in Acton) and put together a demo tape that featured dancehall, electro, jungle and world music sounds. After uploading her music to MySpace in June 2004, the major labels started chasing her and she signed with XL Recordings. While she was working on her debut album Arular, she released a mashup mixtape called Piracy Funds Terrorism, which was produced by U.S. DJ Diplo; it mashed up vocal tracks from Arular with samples of other recordings like the Bangles' "Walk Like an Egyptian," Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin'" and Salt-n-Pepa's "Push It."

The MP3 blog era of the early 2000s brought her to my attention in 2004, when her songs "Sunflowers" and "Galang" were featured heavily, and then the mixtape made the rounds. Arular came out in March 2005 and was a critical success; it only hit #198 on the Billboard 200 but it got up to #3 on the Top Dance/Electronic Albums. And in the post-Napster world, albums weren't what they once were, anyways.

M.I.A. played a bunch of festival and club dates, toured with LCD Soundsystem and Gwen Stefani and built up a ton of buzz for her next album, 2007's Kala. She continued mixing in different styles of music, from Bollywood and Tamil film music to Brazilian funk to African folk and it all worked. She had planned to work with producer Timbaland for most of the album, but couldn't get a long-term work visa to enter the U.S. The holdup was likely due to government concern over her support for the pro-secession Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka (which her father had been involved with), which led some to label her a terrorist. 

She recorded "Paper Planes" in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn, which gave her the inspiration for the lyrics. "I was thinking about living there, waking up every morning--it's such an African neighborhood," she told The Fader in 2007. "I was going to get patties at my local and just thinking that really the worst thing that anyone can say [to someone these days] is some shit like 'What I wanna do is come and get your money.' People don't really feel like immigrants or refugees contribute to culture in any way. That they're just leeches that suck from whatever. So in the song, I say 'All I wanna do is [sound of gun shooting and reloading, cash register opening] and take your money.' I did it in sound effects. It's up to you how you want to interpret. America is so obsessed with money, I'm sure they'll get it."

Instead of paying tribute to making money like a gangster, the song pokes fun at the post-9/11 paranoia in the U.S. at the time that had people here believing immigrants were here to destroy us all. (And as I write this 17 years later, things haven't gotten any better, if the idiotic claims about immigrants eating pets are any indication.) The "paper planes" of the title refer to counterfeit visa documents, which the song's protagonist can hook you up with. 

"I fly like paper, get high like planes/If you catch me at the border, I got visas in my name/If you come around here, I make 'em all day/I get one done in a second if you wait/Sometimes I think sittin' on trains/Every stop I get to, I'm clocking that game/Everyone's a winner, we're making our fame/Bona fide hustler making my name."

The chorus sounds like a call back from the 1992 Wreckx-N-Effect jam "Rump Shaker": "All I wanna do is [gun noises]/And a- [cash register noise]/And take your money/All I wanna do is- [gun noises]/And a- [cash register]/And take your money."

The song wasn't an immediate hit, but once it was used in the trailer of the movie Pineapple Express and then featured in the Oscar darling Slumdog Millionaire, "Paper Planes" totally blew up, going to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. The video featured M.I.A. working on a food truck and dancing through the streets of Bed-Stuy, but MTV censored the song's cannabis reference and the gunshot sound effects.

"Pirate skull and bones/Sticks and stones and weed and bongs/Running when we hit 'em/Lethal poison for the system/No one on the corner has swagger like us/Hit me on my burner prepaid wireless/We pack and deliver like UPS trucks/Already going to hell, just pumping that gas."

The song was remixed by 50 Cent, covered in concert by Rihanna and Dizzee Rascal and the line "No one on the corner has swagger like us" was turned into a new song by Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and T.I. At the 2009 Grammys, an extremely pregnant M.I.A. joined the group to perform "Swagga Like Us/Paper Planes." She also worked with A.R. Rahman on the song "O...Saya" for Slumdog Millionaire, which was nominated for an Academy Award. She became the first person of Asian descent to be nominated for an Oscar and a Grammy in the same year.

Since then, she's had an interesting 15 years or so, releasing four studio albums but also stirring up plenty of controversy with her political views. She was a supporter of Julian Assange and Wikileaks, has come out against the COVID-19 vaccine and 5G and most recently, endorsed Donald Trump after RFK Jr. dropped out of the 2024 presidential race. Oh, and this year she launched her own fashion line, which includes a "tin foil hat" that supposedly blocks 99.99% of WiFi, 4G and 5G from the brain. 

So there's that. But all that wackadoo shit doesn't change the fact that M.I.A. released some truly brilliant music over the years. Right? Right.

Bamboo Banga

I have to admit, I enjoy those rare weekends where we have nothing planned. No parties, no road trips, no visitors. S'nice. Although we did have plans Friday night, as my company's annual post-holiday party was held at a nearby banquet hall. It was a good time. We did much socializing and the like at the party, despite the fact that the DJs were pretty cheesy. A bunch of us headed to a bar for last call. We ended up getting home just before 1, which is waaaaaay past our bedtimes. But since it happens so rarely that the two of us are out that late (as opposed to me alone, since my Wednesday night hockey games get me home around 12:30), it was no big deal.

I've always enjoyed parties, not so much for the drinking or scamming on wimmenz, but just for the sheer fun of socialization. I like huge parties where you can just walk around and get into conversations with people you know and don't know about any number of things. You know those people who can't stand social situations and would rather stay home curled up with a good book? That ain't me. I honed my love of parties in college and in the first decade or so after I graduated. Nowadays, they happen much more infrequently. But I still love them. I don't need to do shots or play cards or dance the night away, although I have done all of those things at some point in the past. Just give me some good beer and some good friends and I'm happy. Of course, nowadays I'm much more apt to stay home, put the kids to bed and watch a movie or game on TV, but I can still get into party mode if need be.

Alas, Friday night's socialization (plus the half hour I spent after we got home taking out the trash and recycling so I wouldn't have to in the a.m.) kicked my butt. I was pretty wiped yesterday morning. Deb got up and went running at 7 a.m. Me, I made it downstairs and was snoozing on the couch while the girls watched cartoons. I rallied later to run some errands and then went for a 5-mile run in the afternoon. Got out for a 10-miler at noon today. The weather has been great for running, temps in the 40s and dry. The next few days it's supposed to warm up into the 50s. Break out the shorts, baby!

Bullets over Broadway:

• I don't write much about the NBA on this here Internet home page, but I've gotta give props to the Boston Celtics, who have gotten off to a ridiculous 29-3 start this season after being one of the worst teams in the league last year. It's a testament to how much of an impact a couple of marquee players can make on a basketball team. Bringing in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen has totally turned the team around. Unlike football, baseball or hockey, which all have many more players on the field or ice, in hoops if you can count the aforementioned duo and Paul Pierce as members of your starting five, you can kick some serious ass. So good for them. But I had to crack up when I read about the American Bandstand video clip they play at C's games of a disco-dancing dude who shakes his booty while wearing a vintage Gino Vannelli t-shirt. This video clip provides more information on this phenomenon. Who's Gino Vannelli? Glad you asked. He's a Montreal-born singer who had several hits in the '70s and '80s. As a kid growing up in Toronto, I heard him on the radio all the freakin' time. Here's one of his big hits: I Just Wanna Stop. He was also a manly man, as SCTV showed in this parody featuring the great Eugene Levy as Gino. Awesome.
• So the late-night talk shows came back this week. While I don't give a rat's ass about Leno, I was happy to see Letterman and Conan back. Both guys have grown beards in support of the striking writers. Dave's is especially awe-inspiring, giving him a deranged mountain man look. Next week, the Daily Show and Colbert Report are back, without their writers. Should be innaresting.
• I was late to the party on M.I.A.'s latest album, Kala, because I kept waiting for it to show up on eMusic. Finally, I just bought it the other day off iTunes. But this song, "Paper Planes," has been stuck in my head for a couple of weeks. Doesn't hurt that she samples the Clash's "Straight to Hell" and swipes a verse from the mighty "Rumpshaker" (caution: plenty of early '90s booty and cheesy double entendres).