Weekend Money Unveil "Guatemala" Music Video from Long-awaited Third Album 8-Ball Emoji (Directed By: Gina Amama) 🎱
Weekend Money (or W$) are a Hip-Hop/Electronic duo consisting of emcee NE$$ AKA @NESSTAGRAM and producer/vocalist Amar "Baghdaddy" Ibrahim AKA @AmarBagh & @Bagh3d. NE$$ & Baghdaddy originally hail from Philly & Iraq, respectively, but are currently based somewhere in-between Philly, Brooklyn, and Miami. Weekend Money, during their earliest aughts, were affiliated with now-defunct Das Racist and, at one point, were even signed to Heems' label, Greedhead Music. NE$$ is also, one-half of The A-Alikes, a crew with affiliation to dead prez and their "militant rhyme crew," People's Army. I can still vividly remember seeing W$ at one of Das Racist's final gigs at Union Transfer in Philly right around the same time as their 2013 debut EP, Naked City. If I'm remembering correctly, I believe, Baghdaddy & NE$$ nearly ripped through the entirety of their genre-blending as-yet-unreleased 9-track EP. Now, if my memory is serving me correctly, I believe, in addition to Das Racist & Weekend Money, Greedhead affiliates LE1F, Lakutis, and SAFE also performed at Union Transfer that fateful night in October of 2012.
It's likely, best described by this scenario from Weekend Money's own Facebook page: "if "Ether"-era Nas had French Electro-Dance tandem Justice as his backing band." Weekend Money's music, to my ear, at least, also contains sonic allusions to Pharrell & The Neptunes/N*E*R*D, Kid Cudi, A$AP Rocky, Chromeo, The Cool Kids, and even 80's Electro-Rap. NE$$ says a weekly series called "Weekend Money Wednesdays" is poised to start within a matter of weeks. Perhaps, most phenomenally, Weekend Money's sophomore release, Queen-referencing Freddie Merkury (2014) contains tracks entitled "W$ Will Rock You," "Trapper Keeper" with Fat Tony, and "Clockworkin;'" the latter, yes, containing lyrics such as, "We gettin' guap around the clock tonight / We gettin' guap, guap, guap 'til the broad dadlight / We gettin' guap. We gettin' guap around the clock tonight" delivered in a similar cadence to Bill Haley & His Comets' 1954 smash-hit, "Rock Around The Clock." It's been a few years since Freddie Merkury and there have been a couple false starts, but NE$$ & Baghdaddy are planning to return on Art Basel Weekend with their third full-length release, 8-Ball Emoji.
Weekend Money's "Guatemala" video follows a brief hiatus, which allowed for free time to work on personal projects, such as Bagh's 3-D/VR art installation, Escape to Guatemala and NE$$' Brooklyn-based art space, World Money Gallery. "After my Brooklyn apartment burned down, I had two options: cry about it or find creative release. I chose creative release," says creative director Gina Amama. "A space that was once so dear to me within minutes, lost its charm and became a house haunted with charred walls, burnt furniture, and rubble. "Guatemala" brought me a feeling of a mysterious and dark space. Being able to capture that essence and create from a situation that seemed hopeless was monumental," Amama continued. It appears as though "Guatemala" is just the first of many striking music videos to be released from 8-Ball Emoji. Weekend Money's long-awaited third album, 8-Ball Emoji,