Leftfield feat. Africa Bambaata - Africa Shox

What this video is

Released 6 September 1999 on Hard Hands/Chrysalis, 'Afrika Shox' arrived at the peak of UK electronica's crossover moment, bridging the underground club circuit and the mainstream charts (UK #7). Afrika Bambaataa, founder of the Universal Zulu Nation and a foundational architect of hip-hop culture, lends the track a transatlantic political gravitas that the video amplifies through its imagery of racial alienation…

Why it matters

A landmark artefact of late-1990s UK leftfield electronica and its intersection with old-school hip-hop heritage. The track represents Leftfield's most culturally engaged single, connecting British post-rave production aesthetics to African-American musical roots via Afrika Bambaataa's Zulu Nation…

The director

Chris Cunningham (born 15 October 1970, Reading, Berkshire) is an English video artist and music video director. Early career included prosthetics, model-making and concept illustration for feature films, before Stanley Kubrick recruited him to design…