Leftfield - Afrika Shox

The genre of music in represented in this video continuously using many different techniques. For example, when the band start vocalising it is over a tannoy which is distorted which gives the effect of electro/techno music. Another feature which shows the genre of this music is the flashing lights on the taxi and the 'WALK' sign which suggests technology, it is also ironic as he cannot walk well. 

Through the entire video the scenery is gritty and grey which reflects on the genre of the music and the modern technology  such as CDs, Phones, Computers. This adds to the electric genre and it also gives the whole video a noir feel as the lighting is quite dark.

This music video is set in New York which indicates the urban nature of the genre. New York is being represented as a dystopic city which is intertextual to Sin City, as it uses dark, hopeless noir lighting and Sin city is a typical example of film noir. In the opening of Sin City there is a sense of threat and menace as a woman is killed within the first few minutes and the same atmosphere is portrayed in the Africa Shox music video.

The music video could also be an intertextual reference to Blade Runner, as the replicants in the film are portrayed as slaves to the humans. This relates to the black man in Afrika Shox who is viewed as inferior by the white inhabitants of New York as he staggers around the city. At the end of Blade Runner there are flashing lights on the cars, which are also used around New York city in the music video.

The car park is underground which indicates the underground nature of the dubstep genre.

Throughout the music video the protagonist is an outcast and a alien in a strange land. This is a metaphor of the slave trade which portrays him as an underdog to society. For example, a low angle shot is used of a middle aged white man looking down on him. This contrasts to the fact that the Africans brought popular music into the world therefore it is ironic that he is being belittled and discriminated against, connoting that the desperate black man is not human, and that his culture had been hijacked by the white artists. For example, the break dancers in the music video are white.  

The lyrics are matched with the visuals, for example, when he has his hands on the fence the lyrics are 'let's get electrified' this gives the impression of him being kept as a prisoner and trapped by the electric fence. Also the shot of him being behind fence separates us from him which could suggest he is representing Africa.