In this song, M.I.A. plays up the stereotype of a menacing illegal immigrant, forging documents and threatening violence. It was inspired by her efforts to enter America on a visa (she is a British citizen of Sri Lankan descent), which resulted in a months-long bureaucratic morass, something she attributed to her dark skin and exotic real name: Mathangi Arulpragasam.
M.I.A. composed this song with the DJ/producer Diplo (Wesley Pentz), who was little known at the time. "Paper Planes" was the first hit song he worked on; a few years later he was on the charts with a number of productions, including Chris Brown's "Look at Me Now" and his Tiesto collaboration, "C'Mon (Catch 'Em By Surprise)." M.I.A. and Diplo were a couple from roughly 2003-2008.
Musically, the song is built on a sample of the 1982 Clash song "Straight To Hell," which also deals with immigration and xenophobia. The sample was Diplo's idea.
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