Major Lazer’s “Light It Up” Video Is An Uplifting Celebration Of Life

It's hard to imagine Diplo ever sleeping, as his two groups Jack Ü and Major Lazer continue their relentless assault on the airwaves. But the Philly-born producer has figured out a way to be everywhere at once, without really being anywhere at all. In the new video for Major Lazer's latest banger "Light It Up," Diplo doesn't even make an appearance, but his visual imprint is all over it. The black-and-white clip was shot during a traditional funeral ceremony in a Ghana cemetery, a nod to the Ghanaian rapper Fuse ODG, who appears on the track along with the Jamaican singer Nyla. And while most funeral processions are a time for grief and mourning, apparently they do things a little different in Ghana, which the video's director, Sam Pilling, elaborated on.

“Delving deeper into Ghanaian culture, we found that their traditional funeral ceremonies perfectly exemplify this sense of coming together to rise up against sadness,” he said in a statement. “The whole community joins together, first in mourning the death, then in celebrating the life that was lived. We worked closely with a Ghanaian family and village, meeting the elders and receiving their blessing to film a real funeral ceremony.”

Since breaking out as a DJ and producer more than a decade ago, Diplo has made it a point to shine a light on the party cultures of different countries from remote parts of the world, which makes this ebullient video another essential entry into his growing canon. Watch above.