M.I.A. - Paper Planes

What this video is

Released in December 2007 and breaking commercially through 2008, 'Paper Planes' arrived at the intersection of post-9/11 immigrant anxiety, the MySpace-era global music discovery boom, and a growing mainstream appetite for non-Western hip-hop voices. M.I.A., a Sri Lankan-British artist living in Bedford-Stuyvesant at the time of writing, satirized American perceptions of Third World immigrants through…

Why it matters

A landmark artifact of diaspora hip-hop and the global bass movement, 'Paper Planes' demonstrated that alt-hip-hop built on politically subversive sampling (The Clash's 'Straight to Hell') and immigrant experience could achieve mainstream US chart success without compromising its provocateur…

The director

Bernard Gourley is a music video director with deep roots in Southern and coastal hip-hop, having directed videos for No Limit Records artists, Three 6 Mafia, E-40, and others. He served as both director and editor on the 'Paper Planes' video, working under…