M.I.A. – Paper Planes

MIA Paper Planes video, “Paper Planes” is the third single from M.I.A.’s second album Kala released on February 11, 2008. The music video for the song was directed by Bernard Gourley. Its planned premiere on TRL was December 17, 2007, but it was made available on MTV’s website two days earlier. The video was shot in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. It was originally planned to be shot in a factory on the border of Ecuador, but was not due to M.I.A.’s time constraints while touring the U.S.

In the video, several paper planes fly over New York City. M.I.A. appears as an immigrant who sells sandwiches from a van to several other New Yorkers. At the sound of the gunshots, quick shots of street signs, people, and restaurant signs appear. She can be seen wearing a Metallica Ride the Lightning shirt in several parts of the music video. Mike D and Adrock of the Beastie Boys, Rye Rye and Afrikan Boy make cameo appearances in the video. M.I.A. uploaded the video onto her YouTube account in February 2008. “Paper Planes” has peaked at #1 on MuchOnDemand’s Daily Ten and #1 on TRL.