MIA is a British songwriter with a very large hip hop influence. Her father is part of the Tamil Tigers which is a political activist group that has the goal of making sure that the TAmil ethnic Minority in Sri Lanka is not overpowered by the Sinhalese which are the majority in the country. In 1983 the Tamil Tigers killed 13 Sri Lankan soldiers in an ambush. The Sri Lankan government tried to hide the deaths because they did not want an uprising against the Tamils. But the Sinhalese found out and in return somewhere between 1000-3000 Tamils were killed. The Sri Lankan government has considered the Tamils to be a terrorist organization at certain times. If we can assume that the rumours about MIA's dad are true, and that he was part of the militant Tamil throughout the 1980's with very little contact with his daughter, then we should also assume that MIA is a very political musician. Her most famous song, which was recently popularized in the movie pineapple express will be taken for example.
The opening lyrics of the song are about making Visa's. Mia claims she can make people visa's so they can travel to other borders. she is speaking to the fact that many TAmil's (including herself)had to flee Sri Lanka during violent uprisings against their ethnic group.
The most alarming lyrics are in the chrous whre she uses sounds in order to create a beat. the lyrics go: All i wanna do is (the sound of 5 gunshots) (the sound of a gun reloading) (the sound of a cash register) And take your money.
Why does the sound of the cash register come after the gunshots? Does this mean she is saying that all she wants to do is kill people for money? Or is she ironically taking the stance of the Sinhalese? I think regardless, this is an excellent song for the revolution because it encourages violence. I would put it right up there with Bob Marley's song 'burnin and lootin' which i believe is the song that participated in the battle of seattle listened to on that morning when they woke up.
Paper planes ends with:
Some some some I some I murder
Some I some I let go
Some some some I some I murder
Some I some I let go
What is most interesting for me is that she is making large amounts of money in London and America but it seems that she is making the music for the people of her native Sri Lanka. Her stance reminds me a lot of K'naan, who was Somali born but moved to Canada and writes hip-hop that often speaks to the tragedies and lifestyle of somali citizens. Yet Canadians, who are completely unaware of the political ongoings in these other countries, enjoy the music. And slowly, if they are concerned enough, they will become aware of the activism of people in other countries.
any thoughts detroit on what MIA is actually trying to convey in paper planes?
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2 comments:
The song works as a diptych. The first paragraph is talking about the majority that destroys the Tamils, and has the ability to pretty much control their government.
The second paragraph is gangster swagger and posturing from the Tamils.
I think, Barry, that you may have chosen the wrong person to ask. I can't stand M.I.A. I think she's using her Dad's bona fide political credentials as a revolutionary guerrilla fighter to further her own career. This song may be the exception as far as her usual quality of lyrics go, but lyrics like:
"No one on the corner has swagger like us"
Or
"running when we hit 'em, lethal poison through their system"
Sound like wu-tang ripoffs. I think she's pissed off that people compare her to her dad so she postures and poses like 50-cent at the grammies. M.I.A. has never shot anyone. M.I.A. is not a revolutionary. All she knows is that she's related to an oppressed minority and (FOR SOME REASON) that she has marketable qualities, which are:
a)... she's a minority, and therefore diverse and interesting, when in actual fact she's a human being just like the rest of us, except richer, and with a very difficult name to pronounce. Her singing about Tamil Oppression is like me singing about how much it sucked when Stalin killed all my ancestors. I don't because I wasn't involved. Hint. Hint.
b) Her voice sounds like someone holding sigorney weaver at gunpoint and forcing her to inuit throat sing the declaration of independence.
EDIT: i just read her biography. her dad wasn't a tiger, but he did start a student protest group that was wanted by the army. She had nothing to do with it and was born in fucking england
On second thought I'd say because she provokes so much response and can connect to such a wide and diverse audience, she's in the perfect position to influence change. She's pretty much "mainstream cutting edge"
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