Bodega BAMZ isn’t about being fake. To prove it, the Spanish Harlem emcee ventured down to Mexico to shoot a video at one of the most violent neighborhoods in Latin America.
“We shot there because we want to show Mexico for real,” the rapper tells Billboard. “We could’ve just shot some scenes at our hotel or tourist attraction but how real would that be? I said take me to where it’s real at.”
Set to the sounds of “The Plug pt.2,” the Sidewalk Exec, his brother (and manager) Ohla weave in and out of the Barrio Bravo (“Tough Neighborhood”) black markets of Mexico City’s Tepito –– with some assistance from native rapper Yoga Fire, of course.
“The neighborhood where the market is located is called Tepito, that neighborhood is one the most violent in Latin America,” Mexican rapper Yoga Fire explains in Spanish (translated into English for this story). “The market is very large. In the market they self electronics, guns, drugs, high-fashion clothing, pirated, counterfeit goods, human organs… everything you’d imagine to find in Tepito.”
