Respect Authority

Be Shareful highlights a band/musician/hip hop superstar number one in the game/whatever and offers free downloads of some of their music. The MP3s will be available for one week so get them before the RIAA gets me.

M.I.A.

Today’s Be Shareful tracks are a selection of sticks and stones and weed and bombs compliments of Sri Lankan hipster queen M.I.A. Specifically, I’ve chosen a number of “Paper Planes” remixes and mashups that are not only very good, but also distinct. Considering the song has permeated the inner membrane of America’s skull at this point, these tracks should provide a nice variety, not to mention show how much you really can do with just one song.

For those who gave up on popular music after Outkast’s viral “Hey Ya” infected the airways and subsequently, our every waking hour and even our fucking dreams, and don’t know who the hell I’m talking about — M.I.A. is a British songwriter, vocalist and producer whose music encompasses the most insane swath of genres since… I don’t know… ever? Combining traditional dance and folk styles such as soca and dappan koothu with modern hip hop, electropop, and alt-rock, M.I.A.’s music touches on themes of immigration, war, indie culture, pop culture, poverty, revolution, and personal relationships, amongst other things. To say the least, M.I.A. is a very diverse artist.

A true product of the digital era, M.I.A. initially gained recognition through file-sharing her migraine-inducing singles “Galang” and “Sunshowers.” Okay, so maybe I don’t like all her material.

In 2005, Nas praised the musician, saying “her sound is the future.” Whether or not his prediction comes to light, one thing is for certain, her sound is incredibly popular right now — there is simply no way you have somehow missed the near-ubiquity of her chart-defying single “Paper Planes,” which was featured uh… basically everywhere, from the Pineapple Express trailer to every mashup made in the past year and probably every one made in the foreseeable future as well, to T.I.’s latest mainstream hip-hop circle jerk “Swagga Like Us”, and even to Respect Authority’s current slogan.

“Paper Planes” is the new “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.” There is no escape, it’s like Shawshank State Prison. Seriously, has anyone not sampled this by now? Or perhaps more importantly, does anyone even still like the song? Well… I do anyway, and the fact that “Paper Planes” hit number 5 on Billboard’s Top 100 must mean people aren’t sick of it yet, which I guess just proves the inhuman power of Diplo, the DJ responsible for this monstrosity’s incredibly contagious beat. It’s the Super AIDS of music — and all this success and recognition only an entire year late!

Personally, I find M.I.A. best in smaller doses, which is why I feel her music is particularly suited for remixes, sampling, and mashups — it is in these arenas where it has its maximum impact. The hooks have a chance to stand out in contrast to the other music on the track, instead of getting drowned out in a seemingly endless loop of layered M.I.A. chanting.

There’s no denying however that the music M.I.A. is producing is original, interesting and brings something new to a music industry increasingly over-saturated with generic pop stew. So in an effort to steer clear of the generic, here are four very different songs all featuring “Paper Planes.” Get with it, fuckers, it’s a Friday: put these on, light up a paper plane of your own, and fly away.

Downloads

Party Break by DJ B. Cause | Download
This fairly epic mashup features Annie Lennox’s “No More I Love Yous” mixed with Paper Planes’ beat, which lays the haunting groundwork for a vocal sample from Biggie’s classic hip hop anthem “Juicy.” And just in case you weren’t sure, E-40’s “Tell Me When To Go” makes an appearance to remind you that, “All that other shit, sugar-coated and watered down.” True that, playa.

Paper Planes (DFA Remix) by M.I.A. | Download
The best mashups and remixes are the ones where the new song can stand independently on its own — it could only exist because of the original but that’s basically where the resemblance ends. This remix does just that, and I promise that for all the various samples you’ve heard of this song at this point, you haven’t heard one like this yet. DFA transforms it into a laid-back disco funk jam, highlighted with some rolling synth riffs, that for some reason makes me envision myself in a 70s style suit, wearing aviators, and hopping over the door into a Grand Torino. Where I am going, I don’t know, but this song would definitely be on the AM/FM radio.

Paper Planes (Scottie B Remix) by M.I.A. | Download
Scottie B speeds the original track up and reworks it into a Baltimore club banger — and I mean that literally, this dude has some kind of deranged gun shot fetish. Regardless, the song is certainly a relentless attack with a fucking facemelting time signature change two-thirds of the way in that reinvigorates the song and no doubt your dorky white person head bobbing as well.

Paper Lip Gloss by DJ Million Dollar Snake Babies | Download
An utterly shameless mashup, this song features a great dub mix of the “Paper Planes” beat with vocals from the similarly overplayed Lil’ Mama song “Lip Gloss.” The remixed beat keeps this from being too much of a simple A plus B mashup, and it only has to be a guilty pleasure if you let it be that. Okay, that’s not true… it’s totally a guilty pleasure no matter what.

Also, Lil’ Mama is an idiot.

[Wikipedia]