M.I.A. - KALA

yeah i mean come on HOW FUCKING GOOD is 'paper planes'?

in at number 39.

i dont get whats so good about paper planes. NOT REAL PUNKS unless you prefer the clash version. you guys all hated puffy for doing the same thing, except mase was a better rapper

haha deej cap'n save-a-puff

i like the songs that aren't like songs, with all the drums pounding all over the place

paper planes is actually fucking good.

I like that managed to find two people and a group of kids who are even worse rappers than she is! I really like this record. She's got a real way with a hook and the production is smashing.

M.I.A. has better flow, deej.

Puff sampled The Clash?

I like the way she/Switch flipped the verse melodies from Straight to Hell (dark, plodding) into something bouncy but kinda melancholic.

Does the shootem-up chorus have some child voices backing? Someone upthread mentioned globalization themes ... "Oh Papa-San /
Everybody, they wanna go home now"?

I don't think this is Willenium/Clash-type sampling techniques ...

whats the difference?

I like the kid rappers! That song is cute, it works really well in a we-just-tossed-this-off-between-recording-the-"real"-songs way.

'$20' is amazing too. really fucking amazing. it's half an amazing album i think now. the bits i don't like are like someone banging some bin lids together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9_Dk_F98cU

ehehehehehehehe

The difference? You don't see any difference between The Fresh Prince sampling the most popular Clash song for a dance hit and an artist who was basically itinerant for a year while producing songs all around the world, using guests with zero cache? Not trying to make M.I.A. out to be some angel with the cards stacked against her or anything, but christ ...

I'm also in favor of more kid MCs.

i don't understand what difference that makes, no

MIA wasn't west philadelphia, born and raised either

SHE'S AN ART SCHOOL GRAD WITH A RECORD DEAL WHO TRAVELLED THE WORLD, GIVE HER A BREAK ALREADY.

WHEN SHE SAMPLES FAMOUS SONGS SHE'S NOT DOING IT FROM THE SAME PALACE OF PRIVILEGE AS WILL SMITH

If Will Smith was any good, surely he'd have worked with Diplo?

DJ Jazzy Jeff was merely the Diplo of his time y/n

god i felt dirty even saying that jokingly, Jazz please kick Diplo out of Philly the way Uncle Phil used to kick you out of the house in Bel Air

Heh. Well I guess the difference is getting more out of the sample than just a hook.

Over-thinking a sample can kill it but ... it doesn't strike me as a cut/paste boring sample. First, they flipped the melody of the sample and gave it a diff. emotional resonance (doesn't sound as dark as it does in the original). Plus, M.I.A./Kala plays around w/ globalization themes in almost every aspect (lyrically, musically, production-wise, etc.). If a listener finds globalization as Kala's leitmotif, then using the "Straight to Hell" sample will probably resonate more.

If you're just bangin' "Paper Planes," the sample might not seem that different from any other sample. My gf doesn't know a damn thing about the Clash and loves the song, so it's nice to see that M.I.A./Switch didn't shoe-horn the sample into the song. It just comes off as organic (which is good), and just gets better when you realize where the sample comes from.

WHEN SHE SAMPLES FAMOUS SONGS SHE'S NOT DOING IT FROM THE SAME PALACE OF PRIVILEGE AS WILL SMITH

True, but I'm sure she would've liked to visit her BKLN apartment. I think I said itinerant, not poor. And to be fair, I don't think she's really projecting herself as an abject musician busking around the world. BUT I GUESS SHE'S A LOT EASIER TO DISMISS IF YOU THINK SHE IS.

TS: "where were you in 92?" vs. "we gonna party like it's 19-- hold up, it is!"

haha nice weave, Jamesy

http://members.aol.com/DoReEgon/carleton_banks.jpg

My gf doesn't know a damn thing about the Clash and loves the song, so it's nice to see that M.I.A./Switch didn't shoe-horn the sample into the song.

This is also some interesting logic.

My gf doesn't know a damn thing about Gloria Estefan, so it's nice to see that Ma$e/Diddy didn't shoe-horn the sample into the song.

if only puffy had veiled his hit making prowess in vague references to globalism

"Been Around The World" was just too overt

When Will Smith went to African in Ali, it really gave me an appreciation for his 'forget me nots' rip for "MIB"

*Africa

I'm sure Puffy had the chance to work with Elastica, he turned it down, don't go bitching about the consequences.

I'm getting into Kala a lot more than I did Arular, but the kind of mindless accolades she's getting makes me want to just write her off as a less magnetic, more pretentious Neneh Cherry. "Buffalo Stance" >>> "Boyz"

haha I forgot about the Elastica connection, I guess her song-borrowing is more like lifting Wire riffs than jiggy rap samples.

Whose rap cameo was worse: Timbaland on "Come Around" or Michael Stipe on "Trout"?

TS: Elastica vs. Rip Rig 'n' Panic

I never totally understood the Neneh Cherry thing -- is it just shorthand for "non-white, raised in Europe, sings vaguely political dance-pop"? Has M.I.A. herself ever acknowledged Cherry as an influence?

I think it's because they both dress like shit.

Spent her young adulthood rolling with post-punkers, released an album of vaguely political dance-pop (with a not particularly dissimilar visual style) that critics jizzed their brains out over. Though Neneh was actually had a hit to go with her hype.

Hell if I know or care whether Cherry is an acknowledged influence, she's an obvious touchstone.

Neneh Cherry's background and art cred are, like, what?

I don't hear the connection to N Cherry:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1S_0YGO9v2w

Cherry is far more conventional

"Hell if I know or care whether Cherry is an acknowledged influence, she's an obvious touchstone."

Yeah all those ethnic arty chicks are alike dontchyaknow!

I don't want to just congratulate MIA on the back and say, "WOW Yr LYRICS ARE GLOBALLY-THEMED IS THERE A NEWSLETTRE I MAY SUBSCRIBE TO?" 'Cause that's kinda how I feel when I'm spouting about all this stuff. It's just refreshing to know that there might be some fun/interesting layers beneath all of it.

My gf doesn't know a damn thing about Gloria Estefan, so it's nice to see that Ma$e/Diddy didn't shoe-horn the sample into the song.

Oh fuck, that's right, I forgot that "Straight to Hell" was a HUGE single over here. My badz. Still trying to wrap my head around the N.Cherry comparison ... I mean, I know it's easy to confuse the two ... the DO sound totally alike ...

Yeah all those ethnic arty chicks are alike dontchyaknow!

Don't be facetious, dude, I'm not comparing her to Diamanda Galas or something.

I never said they were identical, but to pretend there are NO distinct similarities to their aesthetics and critical reception is really willful.

deej's WHY DO YOU GUYS ONLY HATE SAMPLING WHEN PUFFY AND WILL SMITH DO IT posts are pretty funny.

"I never said they were identical, but to pretend there are NO distinct similarities to their aesthetics and critical reception is really willful."

I think the similarities are largely the fact that they are non-white and female. You get a gold star for figuring that out! Woo hoo for you!

Oh wait and some critics like them both too! In fact some of the SAME critics. That's a real touchpoint there too. Can't forget that.

I can see where you're coming from, croupier, although I don't think Neneh Cherry would be anyone's first thought after hearing MIA.

Well, either way, I wouldn't mind if "Paper Planes" is MIA's "Buffalo Stance."

What was M.I.A.'s Rip Rig & Panic again?