Paper planes
| Paper planes | |
|---|---|
| MIA | |
| publication | August 21, 2007 (album), October 13, 2008 (single) |
| length | 3:25 |
| Genre (s) | Pop , hip-hop |
| Author (s) | Diplo , MIA, Joe Strummer , Mick Jones , Paul Simonon , Topper Headon |
| Producer (s) | Diplo |
| Label | XL recordings |
| album | Kala |
Paper Planes is a song by the British singer and rapper M. IA from 2007. The fourth single from her second studio album Kala was written by the artist herself together with the producer of the track, Diplo , with a sample of the song Straight to Hell der British punk band The Clash , penned by Joe Strummer , Mick Jones , Paul Simonon and Topper Headon .
Music and lyrics
Paper Planes is a pop song with strong elements of the hip-hop genre. The basis of the song is a continuously repeated electric guitars - reef at which bass drums , hi-hats and characteristic Snaps are imported. The stanzas sung by MIA each consist of eight different lines, with the same repeated after four lines, so that a total of sixteen lines per verse result. The chorus of the song, performed by a children's choir, consists largely of sound effects that associatively complete the sung sentences. The line “All I wanna do is…” is followed by four shots , whereupon the chorus continues with the word “... and a ...”, which is supplemented by the click of a pistol trigger and the sound of a cash register before it Sentence ended with “... and take your money”. The whole thing is repeated four times.
The text deals with the prejudices attributed to immigrants , especially their involvement in criminal activities . The actors represented by MIA from the first-person perspective behave in accordance with the stereotypes and sometimes use provocative language. At one point, for example, the singer describes herself as “lethal poison for the system”. According to an interview with MIA by Entertainment Weekly , Paper Planes was inspired by their own problems getting a visa to the United States . The song is about the fear that the country's residents have of immigrants, such as those who work as taxi drivers, although they do not pose a threat in their eyes. In their opinion, the controversial refrain can be interpreted both as an acoustic representation of a violent robbery and as a metaphor for the arms trade . The sample interwoven in the beat can be understood as an accompaniment to the lyrical meaning, since the original song is also about xenophobia .
Music video
In the music video for Paper Planes , MIA plays women in recurring sequences who pursue professions that are not socially regarded. She hands out food at a snack bar, stands at a cash register, drives a truck and sells textiles. In between, she can be seen several times in a dark side street, wearing a hoodie , while she dances and recites the song. There are also settings in which she dances alone in different shops or on a street with a group of other people. In scenes, which in contrast to the rest of the video are mostly in black and white , paper planes fly through the city, the number of which increases over the course of the video .
criticism
Paper Planes received almost euphoric reviews. Retrospective articles in particular are enthusiastic about the song, which has repeatedly been dubbed one of the best songs of its time, as well as the anthem of a generation that captures the paranoid zeitgeist of the George W. Bush era. The Clash sample used and MIA's role as a mouthpiece for abused social groups received universal praise. In 2011 Rolling Stone magazine named Paper Planes the fifth best song of the 2000s and the two hundred and thirty-sixth best song of all time, as well as the second best song of the 21st century in 2018.
success
Paper Planes was a huge commercial success, especially in the US, where it was able to position itself in fourth place. In Canada , too, the song made it to number 7 in the top ten. In the rest of the world, however, the song was a much more moderate success. In MIA's home country Great Britain , the song made it to number 19, in Germany and Austria it was awarded places 76 and 51.
Use in other media
In 2008 Paper Planes was used several times in other media:
- Much attention the song received mainly in the United States only by its use in the trailer for David Gordon Green - comedy Pineapple Express .
- The song was also featured in the multi- Oscar-winning Danny Boyle film Slumdog Millionaire .
- The line “No one on the corner had swagger like us” was used as a prominent sample in the hit chart hit Swagga Like Us by rappers Jay-Z , TI , Kanye West and Lil Wayne . There the heavily looped text fragment acted as a refrain.
Individual evidence
- ↑ album. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Single. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Album credits. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Lyrics. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Entertainment Weekly Interview. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Shmoop interpretation. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Song facts page. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .
- ↑ music video. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Retrospective album review. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .
- ^ Retrospective review. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Retrospective article on MIA.Retrieved April 17, 2019 (English).
- ↑ Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of the 2000s. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .
- ^ Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .
- ^ Rolling Stone's The 100 Greatest Songs of the Century - So Far. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .
- ↑ US charts. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Canadian Charts. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .
- ↑ UK charts. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Charts. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Article about use in the trailer. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .
- ↑ IMDB page of the soundtrack. Retrieved April 18, 2019 .
- ↑ Swagga Like Us sample. Retrieved April 17, 2019 .