Paper Planes - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

The song has received acclaim from a wide variety of publications, and has been viewed as a highlight of Kala. In a track-by-track review for Kala, Eric Grandy of The Stranger noted that the song contained more conceptual layers, musical information, and lyrical self-reference than seemingly possible in a three-and-a-half minute pop song, saying it was "the standout track" on an album full of contenders, Kala's "most exciting synthesis of the political and the pop" and its chorus, "a sly, funny acknowledgement of the economics behind M.I.A.'s status as an exoticized sex symbol." This was somewhat echoed by Michael Hubbard of MusicOMH who noted the track's humour and called the song "one of the many standouts" of the album. The Observer 's Emma Warren also marked the song as a highlight, calling it "a career high" and comparing it favorably to an internationalist indie record made by Gorillaz. Similarly, Evan McGarvey of Stylus Magazine called the song "narcotic, gorgeous".

Dan Raper of PopMatters said that "the drug-slinging persona of "Paper Planes"" joined tracks such as "Bamboo Banga" in providing plenty of hustle on the album, however it was M.I.A.'s meditation on the "unfortunate influence of rap's portrayal of ‘the game’ on those in the developing world" that "obviously means the most to her." Todd Martens of Billboard described M.I.A. on the song as "a revolutionary leading a class war". Writing for NME, Alex Miller commented that "Paper Planes" was Kala's "only real pop moment " but that it "sabotages any FM potential by crafting its infectious chorus around four crystal clear gunshots". Describing the song as "soft, soaring", he added that the song's The Clash sample was the clearest indication of where M.I.A. sees herself, "as the inheritor of true rebel music in an era of corporate punks". Jon Pareles of Blender joked that "by M.I.A. standards is almost a ballad", naming it a highlight of Kala. Bill Lamb of About.com claimed it served as a reaffirmation of popular music, deeming it "one of the most bracing pop hits in recent history" and that the song's patchwork world beat style "expands the boundaries of current hit pop music". Joey Guerra of Houston Chronicle described the song's impact alongside the rest of the album, saying "Even amid so much rocket-fueled noise, standout "Paper Planes" causes its own commotion." Citing her lyric where she declares "Catch me at the border I got visas in my name", he further added that "with music this vital, should immediately extend an open-door policy to the globe-trotting MC's stunning international flow." Fraser McAlpine, writing for BBC Radio 1 compared the artist's vocals favorably to those of "Boyz", describing them as "icy and distant" in the verse, giving way to a "catchy, juvenile playground chant" that made both songs "earworms". McAlpine noted that the power of the song lay in the discordance between the melody of the singing in the verses and the backing, saying "there's something very calm and serene about the music, and the slight mismatch in tone with the melody slaps you around the ears, demanding your attention, and forcing you to listen to the words. And when you do, and realise it's a dead-eyed skit on ruthless business practices, it just multiplies the queasy power of the song". Ben Thomson of The Guardian praised the song's wider cultural significance, ranking the single's release number 50 in the newspaper's list of the 50 key events in the history of world and folk music, for having turned globalisation inside out.

Writing for Clash magazine, Colm Larkin said that the album's penultimate track was a "downtempo masterpiece that's like a torch song for the world's disaffected and poor with its chorus line", adding that with the song, the singer-songwriter remained "one of the best things to happen to 21st century music." In his review of Kala, Mark Pytlik of Pitchforkmedia wrote that the song was "an island tinged nursery rhyme." Writing for GQ, Gary Shteyngart praised M.I.A.'s self-sampling ethos, noting her profound sense of "just how fucked-up and unglamorous it is to grow up at the bottom of both First World and Third World societies." In the line "No one on the corner had swagger like us / Hit me on the burner prepaid wireless" he writes that "it's the prepaid wireless that's genius: the tiny sociological detail of the immigrant buying prepaid minutes as opposed to the monthly plan, the daily calculations amounting to an extra fifty bucks a month sent back to Chiapas, Mexico, or Lomé, Togo, that rings true to those of us who came to the West from more dysfunctional parts of the world." Tom Breihan of the Village Voice praised the song as continuing the "confounding, ambiguous political subtexts" that M.I.A.'s music carried, burying its meaning under layers of implication and forcing thorny and ambiguous questions about violence and advocacy, calling "Paper Planes" "a light and airy and bewitchingly pretty song" that also rode on its sample and chorus. Karim Maksoud of This Is Fake DIY called "Paper Planes" an "immediately listenable" track that "showcases all the coarse fatalism, superficiality and backstabbing acerbity of the modern urban life, both in veracious lyrics, the scratched aesthetic and the lethargic, sedated bassline and backing beat maintained throughout." He concluded that the song emanated M.I.A.'s life experience and background "relentlessly" and presented a "tuneful amalgam of influences and exotic dynamic, one of the most promising for a while."