10 Hit Songs You Had No Idea Used Samples

10. Paper Planes - MIA

Thirteen years after its initial release, Paper Planes by M.I.A. remains the best song of the 21st century. You don't need to fact-check that, we are telling you right now. It is simply the case.

While it has always been an undeniable dancefloor filler, Paper Planes is also a multi-faceted piece of art and a merciless political statement.

Using the language of gangsta rap, M.I.A. criticises America's ludicrous attitude towards immigration. The British-born singer of Sri Lankan Tamil descent draws on her own experience of being denied entry to the States, playing the character of the hypothetical immigrant that conservative America fears: a fictional bong-hitting brown girl who forges visas and wants nothing more than to *gunshot* *gunshot* *gunshot* *gunshot* *reload* *cash register*, and take your money.

Even the unforgettable banger of an intro has thematic relevance, being sampled from The Clash's Straight To Hell. A song that's been described as "saturated in colonial melancholia and sadness," it explores, among other things, the alienation of non-English speaking immigrants in British society.

It really shouldn't be any surprise that M.I.A.'s biggest hit uses samples: before she was known as a musician, M.I.A. was a a darling of London's underground visual art scene. Well known for her use of garish collage to create strikingly beautiful images (just look at her album covers!), she brought this same attitude and approach into her music.