Synopsis

Us3 perform "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" in a fast-cut, vividly stylized video that combines band footage with surreal character sketches. The musicians appear against bright orange backgrounds and within television-like frames, while dancers and performers move through the song's jazz-rap groove. A little girl, a boxing ballerina, and a cane-wielding man add playful visual interruptions. The video has the feel of a live jazz presentation filtered through pop-art television, matching the track's collision of samples, rap, horns, and hip-hop rhythm.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was first serviced to music outlets in November 1992, but gained wider rotation after Capitol re-serviced it in October 1993.

• MTV placed the clip in its Buzz Bin and also aired it on Alternative Nation, Yo! MTV Raps, and MTV Jams. BET, VH1's Soul of VH-1, and The Box also added it to their rotations.

• VH1 rarely programmed rap at the time, but the track's jazz instrumentation helped it cross into the channel's adult-oriented audience.

• The video won Best New Artist Dance Clip at the 1994 Billboard Music Video Awards. It was also nominated for Best Dance Clip of the Year and Maximum Impact Clip of the Year.

• "Cantaloop" is built around samples from Herbie Hancock's 1964 jazz standard "Cantaloupe Island." It also uses Pee Wee Marquette's spoken introduction from The Art Blakey Quintet's 1954 album A Night at Birdland, Vol. 1.

• A second music video was made for the song. That version follows rapper Rahsaan Kelly as he comes down in an elevator and walks through city streets, with the imagery treated using rotoscoped colors.