ARTZ | ’No Sleep: 25/8’ Short-Film Review

Keeping a ’25/8′ hustle gets you ahead of the race, at least that’s what New York native, ARTZ shows us in his short-film, No Sleep: 25/8 (directed by Reject Dreams). From the very start, viewers get a glimpse of an anonymous individual running at the speed of light. As they land firmly on their feet, the camera unveils a shot of ARTZ rapping along to his song “Damian Lillard,” which can be found on his 12-track effort No Sleep: 25/8. The bike that’s behind him as he raps this song can closely correlate with a go-getter mentality. What stands out most, however, is the short (blurry) cut of ARTZ face. Strolling the streets of New York, ARTZ looks around, deeply in thought (or he’s just on the lookout). Instantly, the camera goes back on ARTZ, then transitions to a pretty dope shot of three people in a room with flickering lights, wearing white pillow sheets on their faces. To the left of them, one can see a mural of comic book-inspired drawings as well. No Sleep: 25/8‘s next shot shows ARTZ friends just vibing out. Shortly after, the visual goes back and forth with shots of the three masked individuals, ARTZ riding along the streets on a bike, and his friends dancing as the projector shows a snippet of a basketball game. One of my favorite one-liners from “Damian Lillard” has to be when he raps “You good with the fish scale, but never sold dope.” and “I’m throwin’ out bait, I’m getting them hooked.”

Once the short-film hits the 1:35 mark, ARTZ’s song “Scoot Mcgavin (Bad For Business)” commences, and we see a fellow wearing a jacket with colorful squares on it. Rubbing his hands in Birdman fashion (solely because it’s nippy outside), the unknown male stands around and seems to be waiting on something (or someone). Eventually, ARTZ makes a sharp turn around the corner and performs a smooth transition with the anonymous male in the form of a formal greeting. The male in a colorful jacket then makes way to an elevator, which brings him to the same comic book-inspired mural. But this time, the room has red lighting. As he walks in, viewers see a man (identified later on as a kingpin). From there, the two exchange goods: pills and cash. Things take a turn, however, once the kingpin has a sit-down with an unknown curly-headed cutie. Before they converse, someone on the sidelines hands him a drink! Then we all find out that his drink has been spiked due to his hand gestures and gasp for air. In this specific song, my favorite punchline is: “Lyin on your empire, you’re like Jussie Smollett.”

ARTZ’s song “25.8” starts off the next scene, which sees the “New York like a Metro or a bus down” rapper standing on the side at a prestigious apartment complex. Once the camera pans out, viewers see a white motorcycle as well. Ironically, the male with the colorful jacket reappears, to pass by him (without a hello or head nod!) Amid ARTZ doing a similar Birdman hand rub, the camera transitions back to the female shown before. Then the two walk off to explore all that the Big Apple has to offer. Following after, No Sleep: 25/8 flips between scenes of ARTZ rapping “25.8” and the Bonita by his side. First on the bike, then against a brick wall, a red garage door, and vise versa. Yet, the 4-minute mark briefly shows a girl putting pills into a plastic baggie, (in which we assume) at the comic-book mural’s space. It turns out that this woman is also fond of sly exchanges because, in the background, she does a formal greeting! My favorite punchline from “25.8” has to be “I went to Tony Hawk with the flips.”

By the 4:35 mark, No Sleep: 25/8 broadcasts a SMPTE color bar. Then, viewers get an eyeful of the beauty, who appears to be rocking a different hairstyle. As ARTZ’s “Media Take Out” blares through the speakers, the rapper can be seen rocking shades and rapping in a red-tinted room (I’m starting to add two-and-two together). In summary, the film transitions between cuts of the female bobbing her head to ARTZ’s song and ARTZ doing what he does best: spitting witty, hard-hitting rhymes. Eventually, the film shows her posing for some flicks, and ARTZ just swags surfs and lights a spliff. In the end, we all learn that brains and planning ahead overrules drip or flexing. Like his press release says, “Everyone is out to make their money, and sometimes it can feel like a crab in the bucket society, he or she who survives will have a lot of hurdles to overcome.”

If you haven’t already, check out the visual for ARTZ’s short film No Sleep: 25/8 below: