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With its percussive gunshots, Clash sample and lyrics about visas and bombs, M.I.A.'s year-old track "Paper Planes" was the summer's most unexpected hit — and no one is more surprised than its creator. "I always took pride in being a little underground — it really is a very unlikely record to cross over," says the Sri Lankan/British rapper. "The other songs on the chart are Katy Perry and the Jonas Brothers — then you see 'Paper Planes' and it's cool because there's hope: 'Thank God the future's here.' " The song truly went mainstream when it popped up in the trailer for Pineapple Express. "I thought it was nothing," M.I.A. says. "But the way human beings hear stuff, it's like, suddenly a song sounds better to you because it's been in a movie."
The song has sold 1.36 million digital singles (according to Nielsen SoundScan), hit Number Four on the Hot 100 and revived M.I.A.'s second album, 2007's Kala. Interscope is rereleasing the CD, with six bonus tracks, on November 4th. Meanwhile, a line from "Paper Planes" is sampled in the chorus of the T.I./Jay-Z/Kanye West/Lil Wayne collaboration "Swagger Like Us." And M.I.A. is showing other signs of impending pop stardom — she has a clothing line and a record label. Her first release is a CD by teenage Baltimore MC Rye Rye.
At Bonnaroo in June, a road-weary M.I.A. told the crowd that she had played her "last show." But after some time off, she's changed her tune. "Music is my only tool," she says. Earlier this year, M.I.A. got engaged to musician Benjamin Brewer. "I didn't date anyone for ages, and he was the only guy who asked me out," she says. M.I.A. is coy about rumors that she's pregnant. "I'm kind of putting on weight. That could be it," she jokes. "I haven't made it to the counter yet to buy a test. But when I do, I'll let you know."
[From Issue 1063 — October 16, 2008]
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