"Paper Planes" is a song written and recorded by British hip hop artist M.I.A. for her second studio album, Kala (2007). Produced and co-written by her and Diplo. It appeared in the 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire and on its soundtrack album. The song features an interpolation of English rock band the Clash's 1982 song "Straight to Hell", leading to its members being credited as co-writers. A downtempo alternative hip hop track combining African folk music elements, the song has a less dance-oriented sound compared to other songs on the album. Its lyrics, inspired by M.I.A.'s own problems obtaining a visa to work in the USA, satirise American perceptions of immigrants from Third World nations.
"Paper Planes" was released in February 2008 as the album's third single by XL Recordings in Europe and Interscope Records in the US. The accompanying music video, filmed in Bedford-Stuyvesant, depicts M.I.A. as an undercover dealer and features images of paper planes flying overhead. While the video proved popular on MTV, the network censored the song's cannabis reference and gunshot sounds, which disappointed M.I.A. The song was M.I.A.'s biggest commercial success, entering the top 20 on charts in several countries including Denmark and the UK. It peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming M.I.A.'s first and only song to chart in the US top 100 as a lead artist. The song was certified multi-platinum in Canada, the UK and the US and gold in New Zealand.
The unexpected success of "Paper Planes" paralleled M.I.A.'s condemnations of the Sri Lankan government's war crimes against the Tamils, with whom M.I.A. shares ethnic and cultural backgrounds, generating accusations that she supported terrorism. The song received widespread acclaim from contemporary critics, who complimented its musical direction and the subversive, unconventional subject matter. It won awards from the Canadian Independent Music Awards and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), and earned a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year. The song has received praise in publications such as NME, Pitchfork and Rolling Stone, each naming it among either the best songs of the 2000s decade or of all time.
Background and production
M.I.A. (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam) released her debut studio album Arular in 2005 to critical acclaim. The album, inspired by her father Arul Pragasam's involvement in the Tamil independent movement in Sri Lanka, heavily incorporates themes of conflict and revolution into dance songs. While M.I.A. wanted to work with American producer Timbaland for Arulars follow-up album Kala (2007), her application for a long-term US work visa was rejected. This was allegedly due to her family's connection to the Tamil guerrillas, commonly known as the Tamil Tigers, a claim M.I.A. denied. Her visa problems were also attributed to her criticism of the Sri Lankan government's discrimination and alleged atrocities committed against the Tamils, with whom M.I.A. shares an ethnic and cultural heritage. She expressed this on her politicised album Arular.
M.I.A. began work on "Paper Planes" with American producer Diplo and English DJ Switch in London. The track's downtempo production sets it apart from the rest of Kala, which features dense electronic sounds. Diplo came up with the idea of sampling English rock band the Clash's 1982 song "Straight to Hell" and produced the instrumental track with assistance from Switch. As a result, all members of the Clash were credited as co-writers. M.I.A. said that she recorded her vocals without paying much attention to her singing and finished the song in one take. She drew inspiration for the lyrics from her own troubles gaining a work permit to the US, complaining that the issue was probably "them thinking that I might to fly a plane into the Trade Center". From her frustration with US immigration policy, M.I.A. developed "Paper Planes" as a satire of American perception of immigrants from war-torn countries.