“Shabba” is the best Judd Apatow Production of 2013

Yesterday, A$AP Ferg released the video for “Shabba.” Spoiler alert: it’s a video about a bromance(s). Sure, there might be beautiful women in the fore and background to express some macho posturing, but it’s all window dressing for some serious Judd Apatow, stoner buddy movie material. Let me explain. 

The scene opens with a young, scantily-clad blonde making eggs. You immediately assume it is for Ferg before the video even begins because assumptions. Then, with the click of a button from some oddly shaped speaker, you hear the blaring horns of “Shabba.” Letters light up the screen with green, red and yellow to pay tribute to the man after whom the track is named. After the video reveals that Ferg has not one, but two females in his household, we learn that none of them capture his attention as much as his own ego. Even if they are naked in a bathtub. The only thing that excites Ferg more than himself is…jumping around in the driver’s seat of a parked Ferrari with his best bud, Rocky!

They are throwing bows, pointing at their gold teeth, gesturing towards a man who is dancing wildly to the song. Both of them are sharing a buddy moment that is a call back to the Rush scene in Jason Segel’s garage during I Love You, Man. Just two dudes, jamming, not giving a damn, and living in the moment. Things get more a little more This Is The End once Rocky’s verse starts.

The sequence opens with Pretty Flacko seated in the middle of a table and the camera pulls back to reveal that the director is re-creating The Last Supper. But this supper includes raucous members of the A$AP Mob which serve as the weird but not quite fringe group of friends you’ve always known in high school. Sorta like oh yeah, the collective of assorted personalities that Apatow likes to cast for every movie about guys just doing “guy stuff”. “Guy stuff” in his world is smoking endless amounts of marijuana, non-stop dick jokes, and unrestrained dancing which is exactly what goes on in this video. Don’t believe me? Watch it again. I IMPLORE YOU.

For what it’s worth, this video is the most fun thing I have seen in quite some time. The song is imposing and brash but the video juxtaposes it with loads of comic relief, wonderful cameos. Snoop Pearson of The Wire fame shows up for just to say hey as well as Shabba Ranks himself who just busts in the party like he’s Bill Hader with a badge.

All of the antics captured in this video have gotten me extremely excited for Ferg’s debut, Trap Lord, which drops on August 20th.

Thank you, Trap Lord and thank you, Mr. Apatow (maybe) for reminding me that there are other records of note dropping while we ride out the dog days of summer.