It was originally an a cappella jingle commissioned for the Hanover Expo 2000 world's fair in Germany, which was subsequently developed into longer pieces with music and additional lyrics.

The Expo 2000 single was first released on CD and twelve-inch vinyl in December 1999 by EMI in Germany and in January 2000 elsewhere in Europe.

In November 2000, a collection of remixes was released, titled Expo Remix, featuring contributions from various producers, including long-term collaborator François Kevorkian, Orbital, and members of the Detroit techno collective Underground Resistance.

There was criticism in Germany at the time about the size of the fee paid — 400,000 DM (which would have been approximately €204,500 in 1999) — for such a brief and simple piece of music.

The history of Expo I knew from Paris, which was the beginning; when European composers such as Debussy and the like were confronted with ethnic music from Bali, Africa and elsewhere for the first time.