Alien Ant Farm - Smooth Criminal

SEP 17 2001 · 12:00

Alien Ant Farm - Smooth Criminal (2001) Director: Marc Klasfeld Era: Nu-Metal / Post-Grunge Peak Era (2001) - The height of DreamWorks-era alternative metal crossover, when nu-metal dominated mainstream rock radio and MTV TRL simultaneously. Exceptionally high. This video functions simultaneously as a performance document, a pop-culture artifact, and a case study in intertextual video production. Its verified production backstory, including the Michael Jackson approval process and reshoots, gives it substantial archival value beyond its commercial footprint. The quantitative metrics (83 cuts, 2.56s avg shot, elevated saturation) precisely reflect the MTV rock video grammar of 2001. An essential acquisition for any archive of early-2000s alternative rock visual culture. Context: Released June 2001 as the second single from Alien Ant Farm's DreamWorks debut ANThology, 'Smooth Criminal' arrived at the absolute apex of nu-metal's mainstream dominance, a moment when alternative metal bands could score #1 Billboard Modern Rock hits while simultaneously penetrating pop crossover territory. The cover recontextualized Michael Jackson's 1987 Bad-era classic through a self-aware, comedic rock lens, a gesture that captured early-2000s internet-era irony culture before it fully migrated online. The video's playful homage to Jackson iconography, combined with the band's scrappy suburban California identity, made it a defining artifact of the era's genre-blurring moment. The song reached #1 on US Modern Rock, #1 in Australia, and #3 in the UK, and was featured in American Pie 2, cementing its status as a genuine pop-cultural crossover event. Director notes: Directed by Marc Klasfeld; shot on location in San Fernando, California. The video features the band performing in a wrestling ring and in front of a suburban house, and includes multiple homages to Michael Jackson's music videos and iconography, including references to the original 'Smooth Criminal' video, the Moonwalk, and Jackson's chimpanzee Bubbles. Klasfeld, then based in New York City, heard the song in a gym and proactively contacted Alien Ant Farm's label, an unusual reversal of the standard industry approach. The production went through a notable revision process: the band submitted the video to Michael Jackson for approval before release, and at Jackson's request reshot scenes to remove a child wearing a surgical mask; Jackson ultimately preferred the version with the mask. The single premiered June 18, 2001 and was released to US radio June 12, 2001. Klasfeld later directed a second video for Alien Ant Farm, 'These Days' (2003), which famously crashed the BET Awards red carpet.