UK grime godfather Skepta joins the great Blaxploitation revival of the twenty-teens in his action-packed video for “Greaze Mode” from his upcoming album, Ignorance Is Bliss. In the Big Smoke-produced, Matt Walker-directed video, Skepta dons a permed wig to complement his old-school, two piece suit/turtleneck combo and fedora as he and song collaborator Nafe Smallz run up in a bank hoping to make a big score.
Of course, things don’t necessarily go according to plan; Skepta and Nafe end up taking hostages as the police arrive, escaping through the back (clearly, these are the worst cops in all of Britain for failing to cover all the exits) before being chased down and arrested. Depending on how you look at it, the video either has a happy ending or a disappointing one, but the real fun is in watching how much joy Skepta gets out of dressing like a ’70s action star and pretending to menace the bank patrons. There are also some really slick behind-the-scenes clips of a grinning Skepta having a ball posing with his prop gun and taking photos with his co-stars.
“Greaze Mode” is the second video from Ignorance Is Bliss after “Bullet From A Gun,” which was decidedly more low-key thanks to a concept that found Skepta chilling with a baby buggy (sorry, “pram” for all you Brits out there) while waiting for a train on the Underground.
Ignorance Is Bliss drops this Friday, May 31 via his own Boy Better Know label.
