Wiz Vids 2018 #2: Sheck Wes “Mo Bamba”

Like Young Thug's video that placed #1 last year, here's a hiphop clip owing much of its dopeness to IRL circumstances. In a Fader Q&A from last summer, Sheck Wes casually mentions how he used to steal ankle braces from a Modell's in downtown Manhattan. Whether it was staged, the injury aspect might strike a personal chord for Wes. For others, it's 2018's equivalent of Andrew WK's wheelchair-bound performance at the 2003 Spike Videogame Awards crossed with the final explosive minute of the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video. Most video directors would have left it at that and called it a day, but they upped the ante opting to fuse an additional narrative that kinda looked like Darren Aronofsky's Pi - similar dramatic lighting, shot in grainy black & white. All of this would be meaningless if "Mo Bamba" wasn't among the hottest jams of the year.