Voodoo People

by

The Prodigy

Edit

"Voodoo People" is a song by The Prodigy, released as their eighth single in August 1994. It was the third single from the album Music For the Jilted Generation and was released as a 12" single and its own EP in the United States through Mute Records.

The British release included a remix by the The Chemical Brothers who at that time called themselves "The Dust Brothers" in honour of an American producer duo of the same name. When "Voodoo People" was to be released in the States, and due to the British Dust Brothers' rising popularity, the American Dust Brothers threatened a lawsuit if they didn't change their name. The British duo changed their name to "The Chemical Brothers", and the remix on the American Mute release was renamed in accordance. A small sample in the remix was also reversed on the American release due to copyright issues.

The original video was directed by Walter Stern and Russell Curtis. It was filmed on location in Saint Lucia and it showed Leeroy Thornhill as a voodoo priest. This version included scenes featuring real witch Doctors, but these were cut because of problems with television censorship. A number of other more graphic versions of the video are available, one of them appearing in the Prodigy's Electronic Punks documentary.

The main riff in the song is based on a sample of the Nirvana song "Very Ape" from their third studio album In Utero.

The song has been covered by Refused, as well remixed by Pendulum (see Voodoo People (Pendulum Remix)).