Afrika Shox Analysis

The band, Leftfield are a British duo and their music is an integrated genre of music, meaning you cannot put a certified label on it, although, it could be defined as Electronic, Dance and Progressive house music. Leftfield included the use of guest vocals throughout their music, like other contemporary artists such as The Chemical Brothers and Underworld, whom also are an integrated genre of music. This genre of music came about in the 1990s, originating from America in underground venues it came about by using synthesisers and other electronic musical instruments.

‘Afrika Shox’ was the 1st single released from the album, ‘Rhythm and Stealth’, featuring vocals from Africa Bambaataa. In the video, the ‘main character’ is black and moves to the beat of the music, this could reinforce that the music video is giving you an almost history to black slavery in America. The man is in contemporary New York, dressed like a slave, looking bewildered, if you’ve never experienced urban scenery it would come as a huge culture shock, which is obvious by the way in which the man moves. This could be because the director wanted the two aspects of dance and slavery together which accentuates the culture shock to this man, as white people continually ignore him and pretend to be oblivious to his pain. This links to the poem, ‘Limbo’, written by Edward Braithwaite because the different styles of dance like Limbo dancing originated from slavery, “the dark deck is slavery… the drummer is calling me… the music is saving me”. The quote, “the music is saving me” could mean that the only thing keeping the slaves going is the rhythm of their rowing and how music is needed to keep this on-going torture ever so slightly bearable.

The location in which the music video is shot is New York, with its straight edges, urban scenery and underground venues, which link to the underground genre; all add elements to making it a more daunting place for the lost man to be in. The first shot is of a high-rise building, the shot pans down from the building and then levels with the ground, this could represent the intimidating views and buildings in which the character is experiencing. It could also represent the hierarchy of the capitalist society of modern day, which implies that he is lowest of the low and of least priority meaning he is insignificant.

The mise-en-scene is an urban and busy area, which may not be the sort of place in which this character has come from, which would most probably be a rural landscape. The lighting is noir and the shot has been de-saturated to create an urban feel, leaving the police cars red flashing lights to be the bold stand out colour, maybe signifying danger.

The second shot is of a police car patrolling the streets. The red flashing lights could represent the police stamping their authority on the public and how they must not ‘step out of line’, other cars move out of the way for the police car which shows that the public know who’s in charge as well as showing a sign of respect by moving out of their way.

As the shot pans from an underground car park with dim lighting, it abruptly pans into a dark alleyway, the shot is voyeuristic as it approaches the character, it could be classed as a point of view shot as it gets closer and closer to the man. The claustrophobic alleyway is surrounded by damp brick walls which act as a cage around the man. The shot changes to a POV (point of view) shot from the man as he looks into the sky. The lighting is chiaroscuro, as he looks up into the sky there is very little daylight, this could represent the only way out so he must hurry. 

As the character leaves the alleyway and crosses the road, we can see that his physique is very tall and thin and that he is not dressed well, compared to the white men in suites that he is passing. The way in which the character carries himself is unsteady and shaky, as if he is unbalanced and has not been walking for very long.

The man becomes unsteady and falls to the ground, he looks around, giving the impression that he is looking for some help. The shot then cuts to a flashing sign saying, ‘walk’, this acts as a command to the man, telling him to get up and go. The idea that a sign could give human instructions makes it frustrating and almost patronising for the man. This again reflects slavery and the dictating manors that the slaves would have had to go through, it is as if the man cannot get away from being ordered around.

The next shot is of a white man looking up from his newspaper and watching the struggling man trying to get off of the floor, however he does nothing to help and his facial expressions give the impression that he is disgusted and possibly a shame to society and white middle class men. The colour of someone’s skin should never make an impact on your impression on them.

The mise-en-scene in this scene is very simple. The non-ambient lighting makes the place look dingy and gloomy. Whilst the man watches the white men dancing in the underground car park, he looks confused and worried. This could be because some dances originated from the slave trade. The fact that there are white men dancing could make the man feel as if his culture and identity is being taken away from him.

The last shot is the most significant shot in the whole video. The shot is of another black man in ‘tribe’ uniform and other various accessories. He is the only man in the whole video who realises the man needs help and actually offers him help. The low angle point of view shot gives the impression that the man recognises this strange ‘tribal’ uniform and almost see’s him as a saviour. However it can appear intimidating as the man leers over him and with strange stick. 

In reference to Goodwin’s music video analysis there is not necessarily other music videos to link this too but like I previously said  you can link it to the poem, ‘Limbo’. Another link is the lyrics and their link to visuals of the video, for example, “Lets get electrified” could symbolise that everything around him and his culture is getting disturbed, like the electric fences around  him are caging him in and trapping him within the danger of New York, which links back to the idea of him being a slave upon arrival.