M.I.A. has a strop

Underground rap superstar M.I.A. has posted a massive rant on her myspace page, complaining about how her new single, Paper Planes, has been "sabotaged" by MTV and the American establishment.

You see, the London / Sri Lankan singer performed the song on David Letterman's US chat show, but the gunshot percussion that punctuates the chorus was replaced by a cheap electronic snare drum.

"IT WAS WAC OF COURSE" reports M.I.A. who has yet to learn how to use the shift key. "I WAS ABEL TO SOUND CHECK FOR THAT SHOW AND THEY LET ME SOUND CHECK FINE, THEN ON THE ACTUAL TAPING MY SOUND WAS SOOO DIFFERENT FROM WHAT ID AGREED."

If you watch the video of the performance, you can actually see M.I.A. look round in confusion the first time the replacement sound effect is played (youtube link).

And it does somewhat ruin the point of the song, the chorus of which runs: "All I want to do is *pow, pow, pow, pow* and take your money". M.I.A. has said the lyrics are a comment on how (some) people in the West view immigrants, and it's clear that "All I want to do is play a 1980s Casio keyboard and take your money" doesn't have the same impact.

Unfortunately, MTV have also chosen to censor the video in this way - raising the singer's ire even further. Here are some words she uses to describe this turn of events: DISAPPOINTED, BULLSHIT, FUCKED UP MESS.

I think she's angry, don't you?

M.I.A. continues to say that this is exactly the kind of thing that happens to people who have an "OUTSIDER MESSAGE", which is fair comment. But when your song contains the line "Some I murder, some I let go" perhaps you shouldn't expect mainstreams TV networks to fall at your feet praising your artistic integrity.

Anyway, this all clouds over the fact that Paper Planes is a brilliant song from one of the best albums on 2007. Here is the uncensored video, which the corporate whores at MTV can shove up their wazoo!

M.I.A. - Paper Planes


NB: This video is brought to you by Youtube, which is owned by Google, a company that makes almost $15bn per year and is part of the Nasdaq 100.

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