Synopsis

A homeless man wanders through the streets of New York in a dazed, unstable state. His body appears to be made of fragile porcelain, with limbs breaking away whenever he collides with people or objects. He eventually stumbles into a break-dancing battle, where another impact leaves him badly damaged. Afrika Bambaataa notices him and tries to help, but the man's desperate journey ends when he is struck by a taxi and shatters completely.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Afrika Shox" was released in 1999 as the first single from Leftfield's album "Rhythm and Stealth." The track features vocals from hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa.

• The video's deliberately disturbing imagery caused concern that television networks would reject it. In the UK, broadcasters restricted it from daytime transmission, while Channel 4 and ITV's late-night program "Videotech" scheduled it for evening broadcast.

• Leftfield's label promoted the video online before its television release, reportedly showing it on the band's website at regular intervals because of fears that conventional music-video outlets would avoid it.

• The production was filmed on location in New York City. Its stark street setting and the protagonist's disintegrating body turn the song's hard electronic rhythm into a bleak visual metaphor.

• An earlier version of the project had already been made and was later shelved when Leftfield decided that the track itself was not finished. The final song and video were subsequently developed as part of the album's relaunch.

• The video became an early example of a music promo distributed in DVD-quality form on a PlayStation magazine demo disc, helping it reach an audience beyond regular music television.