Afrixa Shoxx

 

 

 

 

Leftfield is a British electronic band formed in 1989 in London, England. From 1989 to 2012, Leftfield was a duo of artists and record producers that consisted of Neil Barnes and Paul Daley (formerly of The Rivals, A Man Called Adam and the Brand New Heavies). In January 2010, Barnes resurrected the band name and having toured the world for a couple of years is now writing new material for a third album. Daley has declined to be involved and is focusing upon his solo career.

Audience –niche why? Underground nature of the genre is represented by the sequences  in the underground car park

The music video shows a clip of the coffee bar Starbucks, suggesting that a contempory audience is the niche group targeted to the music video. The niche group is also specified by the location of the car park, signifying the underground nature of the genre. This niche groups is also due to the controversial issues that Leftfield raises, along with the 'unusual' music genre. The music video also references popular culture due to the scenes of the busy street in New York. The target audience for this music video Africa Shox music video is a primarily male group, aged roughly between 16-25.

  Theme – colonisation of black music by white artists – reference white dancers in car park.

In many different shots there are different references towards conflicts between social and racial groups. The main character is represented in the music video as a zombie type character. This is denoted by the worn out and ripped, dirty clothing that he wears. This could identify that he he’s a second class civilian  He also walks in staggered way through New York demonstrating  the zombie/walking dead characteristics. The way in which the main protagonist acts and dresses throughout the music video makes him seem almost like a barbaric, hateful inhuman. This view towards him is also enriched by the character standing out in front of many white businessmen, expressing slavery.

Mise-en-scene

Camera shots/angles- At the beginning of the music video, there is a shot which appears to look like prison bars. This signifies that the main protagonist is almost a prisoner. This also relates to the idea that he is an African slave held captive.

The colossal city of New York is shot in ways that suggests separation (the business men in suits and the protagonist in his torn clothing). The black individual is distant from the other characters and the shots focus on him and make it seem as if he’s separated from everyone else. As the shots of the protagonist crumbling are shown in New York City it strongly represents the crumbling of society.

Lighting – the first opening shot of the music video is a gloomy time of day with dark lighting. Immediately, this sets the scene and indicates to the audience that it’s a miserable and bleak scene. A police car is allocated driving with it’s flashing lights. This strongly represents the motion of dub step/electronica genre as flashing lights can strongly signify a rave.  When the protagonist in the music video is first showed, he is presented in the darkness of an alleyway.  This immediately signifies a mystery or that something is not right. As he appears from the alleyway, he stumbles into the light and seems blinded by it. This could represent  the African slaves escaping captivity and being released into the bewildered American land.

Roots of Hip-Hop

In the beginning there was Africa, and it is from Africa that all today’s black American music, including Jazz, R'n'B, Soul or Electro, is either directly or indirectly descended. The ancient African tribal rhythms and musical traditions survived the shock of the transportation of milllions of Africans as slaves to the Americas, and after 300 years of slavery in the so called “Land of the Free” the sounds of “Old Africa” became the new sounds of black America. Rapping, the rhythmic use of spoken or semi-sung lyrics grew from its roots in the tribal chants and the plantation work songs to become, an integral part of black resistance to an oppresive white society

The protagonist in the music video strongly represents a black slave from Africa with his run down clothes, dirt skin and hair. His zombie like characteristics suggest that he may be a slave zombie from many centuries ago.

These characteristics that strongly root to the African heritage of electro relate to the poem 'Limbo' by Brathwaite. The poem portrays slaves on their uncomfortable journey to America from Africa. ‘Limbo’ is about the hardships and humiliations the slaves had to suffer. It also describes the harsh way they were captured and treated. The poem could replicate the protagonist’s past which is why he comes across so delicate and fragile; trying to look for help from strangers.

Audience

 

The target audience for ‘Africa Shox’ music video is possibly aim at young males aged between 16-25 years. The audience can be seen as a niche group as the electro/techno song isn’t so mainstream and is seen as a slightly unusual music genre.  The niche group is probably almost influenced due to the controversial issues raised by Leftfield.