Over the last year or so, Milwaukee rappers and filmmakers have shown an innate ability to forge outstanding videos with little-to-no budget. WebsterX’s locally-shot videos for “Doomsday” and “Lately” are nothing short of cinematic, Juiceboxxx grants viewers a free rain-soaked tour of the city in “Walking In Milwaukee,” and whether he’s in front of or behind the camera, WC Tank can do no wrong.
Adding yet another rendering to the already-impressive canon of Milwaukee-made hip-hop visuals is the brand new video collaboration between Oshkosh (by way of Milwaukee) talent Mozaic and lauded local Zed Kenzo. Filmed back in February, “Imitation Diamonds” transforms Milwaukee’s east side into a dank and post-apocalyptic setting that perfectly matches the Eclipse-produced song’s raw and primal energy. Zed’s melodies are nothing short of hypnotic, which counter Mozaic’s subdued and effect-laden bars that lay dormant until he sounds off in the final 30 seconds.
With a budget that tops out at, uh, whatever an old television and a book of matches run these days, director Alex Belville, Mozaic and Zed Kenzo, fittingly, manage to make “Imitation Diamonds” shine with the luster of a much more expensive music video. The song will be released this December on Mozaic’s forthcoming album, Sometimes Author. In the meantime, watch the video below.