Case Study: The creative use of media language in the Chris Cunningham music video “Africa Shox” by Leftfield.

1. Afrika Shox
Leftfield ft. Afrika Bambaattaa
Released
6 September 1999
Directed by
Chris Cunningham
Genre
Electronic/dance/hip-hop/noire

2. Leftfield
Leftfield were a British electronica band, producing music of a genre
coined as progressive house, between 1989 and 2002. In the 1990’s
they were described by Mixmag as;
"the single most influential production team working in British dance
music".
The term ‘Left field’ can be defined as ‘radical’ or ‘experimental’ and
can also have political connotations.

3. Reinforcing the genre
Goodwin’s Theory of music videos
1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics
(e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for
boy/girl band).
Goodwin’s Theory states that a successful music video will
demonstrate genre characteristics within the visuals and
aesthetics. Cunningham follows this convention closely in
Afrika Shox.
At the beginning of the video, the audience is presented
with the image of an approaching police car, which
immediately indicates the electronic genre of the track.
Flashing lights and sirens (above) have connotations with
discos or raves, where this music genre is likely to be played.
As well as this, the images of the break dancers in the
underground car park (right), demonstrates genre
characteristics in line with Goodwin’s theory.
The choice of location, suggests the underground nature of
the artist, helping to establish the audience for the music
video.

4. Goodwin’s theory of music videos
2. There is a relationship between the
lyrics and the visuals.
Goodwin’s theory suggests that there should be a visual relationship with the lyrics in a music video. As the
protagonist stumbles onto a barbed wire fence, the lyrics “Let’s get electrified” are heard. This technique greatly
emphasises these lyrics and the meaning behind them; in which the electronic genre of the video is displayed. The
image of the African man clinging to the fence has connotations with entrapment, which could suggest that the
feelings of alienation that he feels within the city make him feel trapped or restricted within the alien culture.
Furthermore, images of tall barbed wire fences give the impression of the protagonist feeling imprisoned. A tall
barbed wire fence may be associated with prison or even a concentration camp, suggesting that the African man is
being held captive within the busy city lifestyle.

5. Very much contrary to Goodwin’s Theory, Cunningham’s
Afrika Shox video at times contradicts the audio, in which a
dystopic representation of New York City is created. The low
angle shots of The World Trade Centre, appear threatening,
and so make the African character appear alienated within
the culture he finds himself. This representation is created
further, through cinematography, with conventions of film
noir, such as black and white, giving the setting negative
connotations.
Intertextuality
Vienna, as depicted in Carol Reed’s
‘The Third Man’.
Metropolis – 1927, Fritz
Lang
Various intertextual references can be made between
Cunningham’s video, and other texts. Most notably, a link
can be identified between the dystopic representation of
New York City and the image created of the city of Vienna,
in ‘The Third Man’. Cunningham similarly attempts to make
his lead character feel isolated, as Carol Reed does in ‘The
Third Man’, by creating a sense of alienation amongst the
inhabitants of the city, which is achieved using elements of
film noir.
Fritz Lang first pioneered the sort of dystopic city
representation we see in Cunningham’s text, in the 1927
film, ‘Metropolis’. This city of the future was quite literally
built around inequality.
3. There is a relationship between the music and the
visuals.
6. There are intertextual
references.

6. 5. There is frequently reference to
the notion of looking.
Cunningham ironically represents the notion of looking in Afrika Shox, with low angle shots of the
white business man who is shown to look at the black man as if he is invisible, showing the
insignificance of this inferior race within New York City society.
Following this, tension is heightened as another New Yorker walks into his arm, which is held out
vertically, into his path. As the protagonist’s arm falls and shatters on the ground, the audience are
left shocked to be witnessing such an event. The action suggests that the inferior black man feels
broken and crushed by the heartless, native ethnic group, who are portrayed as arrogant, with a
sense of possessing great superiority over other’s they feel as lesser.
Some viewers may find this representation offensive. The fact that the white man is evidently living
in his own self centred bubble and makes no acknowledgment of the pain and suffering he is
causing the black man, could be said to make a very broad and misleading statement about race,
while conforming to the common stereotype of the middle class, white New Yorker, as a careless,
insensitive being, absent of any empathy.
This could, however, be reflective of the inequality felt by many minority groups living in NYC at the
time this music video was released. The introduction of new policing tactics in 1994 to combat
crime included the implementation of ‘Stop and Frisk’ searches – in which police have the power to
search anybody they may be suspicious of. As these searches would typically take place in
neighbourhoods of great poverty or ‘social disorganisation’ where there were higher crime levels,
these minority ethnic communities felt as though they were victims of ‘racial profiling’ and targets
of ‘racially disparate police’
ARTICLE - http://stopandfriskinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2013/01/Fagan-and-Davies-
%E2%80%93-Street-Stops-and-Broken-Windows1.pdf