Synopsis

The best-known version of "Hustler" places a group of young women in a circle playing Chinese whispers. A message passes from one participant to the next, but the game gradually turns into a chain of kisses and increasingly intimate contact. Another official version presents bikini-clad models in a deliberately artificial glamour setting, eating and smearing food, licking money, and eventually mutating into grotesque figures. Both clips pair the track's sleek electro pulse with imagery that pushes flirtation and fashion imagery toward absurdity.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Hustler" first appeared as a 2006 single on the Kitsune label and was later included on Simian Mobile Disco's 2007 debut album, "Attack Decay Sustain Release."

• The track features vocals from New York singer Char Johnson. The vocal began as an improvised performance over instrumental material before the duo edited and reshaped selected phrases.

• The kissing-circle video was made for very little money. The band said the production used equipment already assembled for another shoot, helping keep costs extremely low.

• Many of the women appearing in the original clip were friends of Simian Mobile Disco, rather than conventional hired video models.

• The second version attracted considerable attention for its deliberately unpleasant combination of glamour styling, food waste, bodily mess, and facial transformation.

• Contemporary coverage linked the grotesque version to the provocative visual tradition of The Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up" and Aphex Twin's "Windowlicker."

• The two contrasting videos helped make "Hustler" one of the duo's most recognizable tracks visually, with the original clip frequently mentioned alongside the song in interviews and press coverage.