Throwback Thursday: Bomfunk MC’s Captain ‘Freestyler’

When Bomfunk MC’s released their debut album, Freestyler, back in 1999, the mainstream was exposed to a whole new kind of music. The first time you heard the title track, your mind was blown, but who could’ve picked up on their secret plan? To launch the world’s first dance music superhero: Everyone, meet Captain Freestyler.

By today’s standards, Freestyler is one of those music videos I watch knowing that I should be cringing at all the 90s-ness, and yet I never quite do. In it, a young dreadlock-sporting kid, sporting the biggest clothing you’ve ever seen, is given the ability to alter time using his super-futuristic MP3 player (oooo-weee-oooo!). He gets this power from catching the train which, you know, isn’t as interesting as getting bitten by a radioactive spider or having your parents murdered in front of you, but we’ll go with it. Maybe the train was pulling through from space or something?

 

Back in 1999, all I wanted was to be this kid. Not because of his innate MP3 player-powered superpowers, but because he had the ideal street look I was after. Dreadlocks, headphones, maaaan, this kid’s got dope style. Oh right, right, wait… this kid actually gets his powers from a blessing he receives from B.O. Dubb, which implies that Bomfunk MCs really were men from the future, or space priests or something. And then… wait a minute, was that Seth Rogen sitting across from you?

Now, If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from Spider-Man, Marlo, it’s that “with great power, comes great responsibility”, and it looks like Bomfunk MCs aren’t too happy with the way you’re using your fancy super powers. This is troublesome for you, kid, cos now that they’ve taken away your short-lived power and sent you back in time, you’re now stuck in a time loop.

Wait, wait, wait… what if that’s what this music video has been about all along? Everyone’s been stuck in a time loop on the set of that train station from The Matrix Revolutions. That explains why there are only, like, 4 extras in this entire video.  Am I going too far here? Maybe, but there’s no way I would’ve even picked up on that theory 14 years ago. At least it was Freestyler that was on infinitely loop for Marlo, and not something more nightmarish.