Bodega Bamz Debuts New Video “Billy Bats”
Bodega Bamz premieres a new short film in anticipation of his full-length, Sidewalk Exec.
When GEN F'er Bodega Bamz bubbled up in New York in 2013, I rocked to "At Close Range" riding under the LIRR tracks down Atlantic Avenue and all felt right. Since then, the uptown spitter has announced a new album, Sidewalk Exec, and today he debuts a new video for his first single "Billy Bats." There are echoes of A$AP Mob's trademark gotham screw via producer V-Don, and an up-nod to Black Rob's "Woah" that's funny like 50 degree days in NYC.
The video is part urban drama, part album artwork pop-up book: "I did not want to do any performance videos for the promotion of my new album," Bamz tells FADER. "Instead, I sat with Guy, who directed the visuals for the project, and we wrote scripts that developed Ohla and I as characters in a fictional world that were inspired by our favorite films. I am a fan of John Carpenter, Alfred Hitchcock, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Stanley Kubrick, although the shooting style of this piece was very Wong Kar-wai influenced. This music video for 'Billy Bats' acts as the sequel to our short film 'The Streets Owe Me,' starring Ohla, Cipha Sounds, Joell Ortiz, and myself, which is going to be released later this month." Sidewalk Exec drops April 14th on 100 Keep It/Duck Down, pre-order here.
