Christian Tiger School's "Cinderella Rocafella" Brings 70s Video Synths Back From the Dead

Christian Tiger School are Seb and Luc—two South African boys whose woozy hip-hop beats seem to float straight out ofLA's beat scene. "Cinderella Rocafella" is the second single off their debut album Chrome Tapes, which arrives on iconic label Tommy Boy Entertainment in June.

Director Christopher Bisset tells us, "The video was inspired by the work of Steve Rutt and Bill Etra, who built these amazing analogue video synthesizers in early 70s New York. There are maybe four left, and they're all well guarded, so I started looking at ways of emulating the synthesizer."

"I built a system using Trapcode Form, displacing pixels based on their brightness. Night footage started getting this great depth, so we spent a week in Mumbai shooting night markets, train rides, and street scenes. That footage forms the basis of the film," Bisset adds.

The track takes many unexpected detours, including a major one around the six-minute mark. Its heavy use of samples, particularly the percussion and strange, guitar-like twang, convey an atmosphere that you can't quite put your finger on—an atmosphere that Luc and Seb describe as "mechanical and off-kilter, even in its most joyous moments."

Christian Tiger School also appear in 'Future Sound of Mzansi,' a three-part documentary about South African electronic music that we're premiering on THUMP. "[Future Sound] has come out at the perfect time to really zoom in on what's happening around the country," the duo says.

"We don't really have massive music blogs or publications, so the movie is doing a great job in reaching audiences that might have not been aware of what's happening here. Acts like Nozinja, John Wizards and Petite Noir have really broken the seal and along with the film, it's opened doors for other artists to get way more attention."

Chrome Tapes is out on Tommy Boy Entertainment in June 16

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