Synopsis

Lakeith Stanfield appears trapped in a surreal cycle of emotional and physical suffocation. Set around a swimming pool and the stark spaces of Hawthorne, California, the video places him in and around the water as unsettling images blur the line between performance, dream and drowning. His isolated presence mirrors the song's confessional lyrics about confusion, self-destruction and feeling pinned beneath overwhelming pressure. Rather than presenting a literal storyline, the clip turns the pool into a shifting visual metaphor for being unable to surface.

Factoids & Trivia

• MOORS was a duo formed by Lakeith Stanfield, then credited as Keith Stanfield, and producer Hrishikesh Hirway, who worked under the name HH.

• "Asphyxiated" was released as a single on November 7, 2013, before appearing on the self-titled MOORS EP in October 2014.

• The video was filmed in Hawthorne, California, in the Los Angeles area.

• The production was made on a notably modest scale. The filmmaker later recalled shooting it with a camera borrowed from work, a detail that contrasts with the video's polished, dreamlike finish.

• The pool imagery gives a literal visual dimension to the song's recurring language of suffocation, drowning, pressure and being held at the bottom of the sea.

• The clip was nominated for Best Urban Video - Budget at the 2014 UK Music Video Awards.

• The song was written by Stanfield and Hirway. Its lyrics focus on mental confusion, addiction, anger and self-destructive impulses rather than conventional rap bravado.

• The MOORS EP placed "Asphyxiated" alongside tracks titled "Gas," "Fire" and "Smoke," creating a recurring thematic link between the project's music and air, combustion and suffocation.