Yo, YO!  Hope everyone’s enjoying their Friday night on the eve of this August 23rd/24th  2008 weekend!  We’re back, with another so hot, so real episode of Weekend “Wee”deos!  This weekend, we feature a video from M.I.A., a Sri Lankan born rapper who is topping the charts with her new single, Paper Planes (you may have heard it on the Pineapple Express movie trailer).

M.I.A., born Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, has been in the rap scene for quite some time now with many controversially charged songs, but her new single, Paper Planes, is her first hit to smash the top 40 charts.  Last week Paper Planes, from her sophmore album Kala, reached the #5 spot on top 40 list.  The Paper Planes video has already accumulated over 10 MILLION views on Youtube.  Check it out…

So what the hell is this song about?  You can read the lyrics here.  Some opinions on what it’s about are also posted on this link.  “I fly like paper, get high like planes”…

Here is a little bit of background on M.I.A (provided by Suite101.com):

Born in London, England, her family moved to their homeland of Sri Lanka when M.I.A. (born Maya Arulpragasam) was six months old. The family later relocated to Madras, India.

Civil war in Sri Lanka forced the family to flee the country and M.I.A. returned to London later in life to study art. Her music, a mix of hip-hop, electronica and dancehall became a big hit with local DJ’s and garnered the attention of Record Company XL, for whom she recorded her debut album Arular in 2005.

At the beginning of this year, her first single from Kala, “Jimmy” danced all the way up to number 16 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, giving her a taste of the recognition and respect this talent deserves. Kala was released in August of 2007.

M.I.A also performed this song on David Lettermen’s The Late Show.  Check out the performance and Lettermen’s introduction of the Sri Lankan rapper:

Man…got this song swirlin’ in my head now!!!  Have a good weekend everyone!

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