"Paper Planes" is the third single from M.I.A.'s second album Kala. It is written by Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, Diplo, Joe Strummer and Mick Jones. It features a guitar riff sampled from the song "Straight to Hell" by The Clash. The song placed number 17 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2007. In the summer of 2008, the song began getting significant pop radio airplay and renewed alternative radio airplay worldwide. In an interview in late August 2008, Arulpragasam described the song as being "about people driving cabs all day and living in a shitty apartment and 'appearing' really threatening to society. But not being so. Because, by the time youve finished working a 20-hour shift, youre so tired you [just] want to get home to the family".
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Diplo (Wesley Pentz) is a Philadelphia-based DJ and producer. Together with DJ Low Budget, he runs Hollertronix, a club and music collective. Among other jobs, Diplo worked as a school teacher in his native Philadelphia. In addition to his solo career, he dated and worked with M.I.A..
Diplo's alias, short for Diplodocus, derives from his childhood fascination with dinosaurs.
After hearing one of his songs, M.I.A. approached Pentz when he was DJing one night at the Fabric Club in London. "Besides me being a white dude from Florida and her being a Sri Lankan girl in England, everything else was the same: [We were both] film graduates, [listened to] all the same music when we were kids, were going in the same direction right now in music, it was amazing." he said of their meeting. Coincidentally, Diplo was playing her single "Galang" as she entered the club, which he got from a worker at i-D magazine. Diplo also toured as a DJ with M.I.A. during her 2005 Arular Tour. He has also worked with fellow Philadelphians Spank Rock, Amanda Blank and Santogold.
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DFA Records is an independent record label with an exclusive distribution deal with major record label EMI, launched in September 2001 by Mo' Wax co-founder Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy and mutual friend Jonathan Galkin.
James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy met whilst working in New York on David Holmes' album Let's Get Killed.
DFA Records began on a series of 12" single vinyl releases starting with The Rapture's "House of Jealous Lovers" and The Juan Maclean's "By The Time I Get To Venus" (ex Six Finger Satellite member John Maclean).
As a production team, the DFA have produced and remixed artists including Radio 4, Le Tigre, N.E.R.D., Soulwax, Blues Explosion, Nine Inch Nails, Automato, Gorillaz, UNKLE, and The Chemical Brothers. They even spent an unsuccessful afternoon attempting to write a song with Britney Spears. On their DFA label, Murphy and Goldsworthy have also produced and released music by The Rapture, The Juan Maclean, Black Dice, Shit Robot, Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom, J.O.Y., Pixeltan, Black Leotard Front, Hot Chip, and LCD Soundsystem. The DFA have released compilation or remix albums featuring signed artists with the most recent release being The DFA Remixes - Chapter Two in October 2006, a companion pieces to the earlier The DFA Remixes Chapter One.
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M.I.A. MIA Paper Planes DFA mix remix DIPLO Kala Mathangi Switch clash records James Murphy house electro hip hop dance music cover Joe Strummer Mick Jones Straight to Hell radio paperplanes theme tune song comedy pilot Think Tank pineapple express trailer movie Hancock soundtrack Dave Taylor Solid Groove
Tags: M.I.A. MIA Paper Planes DFA mix remix DIPLO Kala Mathangi Switch clash records James Murphy house electro hip hop dance music cover Joe Strummer Mick Jones Straight to Hell radio paperplanes theme tune song comedy pilot Think Tank pineapple express trailer movie Hancock soundtrack club Dave Taylor Solid Groove
