slowthai's latest banger MAZZA - featuring A$AP Rocky - gets an off-the-scale trippy and super-stylish visual treatment from regular collaborators The Rest, with the rappers in adjoining hotel rooms, dealing with the effects of munching on a couple of questionable apples.

Having directed some of slowthai's best-loved music videos - including BB, Gorgeous, Ladies and North Nights - and serving as his long-time creative directors - The Rest (that's Alex Motlhabane and Lewis Levi) have upped the ante on production design and VFX to overcome the difficulties of shooting in COVID times. 

The directing duo shot the artists in separate shoots in the UK and US, weaving their performances together by virtue of the coordinated looks of the rooms, frenetic shooting style with super-wide lenses, and the reality-warping VFX. The result is an insane trip of featuring bulging eyes, floating sofas and hallucinogenic room service, with two of the most watchable rappers on the planet.

THE REST:

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas became a key reference point.

"The idea for the video took many different forms, no thanks to effects that COVID has had on the world. But we desperately didn’t want to make a video that felt like it was shot in two different countries during a pandemic (even though it had to be).

"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas became a key reference point as it covers similar themes, namely going paranoid and hallucinating in a hotel room. Visually, we wanted to build and elevate on the work we’ve been doing with slowthai and looked to the strong punchy colours from some of our favourite films like Jeunet & Caro’s Delicatessen, Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel and Hype Williams’ more playful music video work from the late 90s and early 2000's.

"Both artists went all out and totally committed to their performances and the creative of the video which served the vision brilliantly."