Image via Complex Original
Artist duo UZiis made up of Gabe and Mike who specialize in grainy, raw, often VHS videos of musicians, celebrities, and randomly awesome culture happenings. Hailing from Ohio, UZi started out playing the opening act for rappers that rolled through town. Instead of relying on other directors to shoot their shows, they filmed themselves and other acts, work that evolved into the videos they produce today.
Gabe and Mike use an old VHS camera which gives their films a gritty, vintage aesthethic. "We shoot with old shitty cameras because it looks better. Simple as that," Gabe of UZi told Complex in a previous interview. "It brings them to a different world."
UZi claims they got their big break when the filmed Kreayshawn’s "Summertime" in LA. Since then, they have gone on to film videos featuring A$AP Mob, Kid Cudi, Terry Richarson, and others. Gabe of UZi revealed some of his favorite projects to us. Check out the duo's work with our Portfolio Review: UZi Talks About Their Video Work With Kid Cudi, Terry Richardson, RiFF RaFF, and More.
RELATED: Interview: Gabe of UZi Talks Working With A$AP Mob, Kid Cudi, and More
ATL Twins
"The Twins are the best. We swooped them from the Hotel in Soho one night in August. We were doing some visuals for 40 OZ, and we arrived to the studio around 7. The girl models that were in the shoot showed up at like 7:15. By 7:25 it was like a full blown party. The girls were pretty much naked and twerking. The twins are experts at making girls get ratchet. It's a true art form. They're some of the coolest guys in the whole game."
Ian Connor
"Ian is a rare human being. We work together pretty often. I need to hit him up actually, need to chill with that dude more. Whenever we do, we shoot a bunch of shit and smoke a million cigarettes."
Video Portrait of Terry Richardson
"During fashion week UZi was doing something with Milk Studios, so we were filming all the shows. Terry rolled up to one of the shows, and I kind of spazzed out. With no shame, I went up to my favorite photographer and asked him for a 'photograph.'"
Kid Cudi for Beck's Artist Series
"This was our first commercial piece. One day, I woke up to an email from Dennis who works with Cudi and has been a mentor to us for years. In the email, it basically stated that Cudi was requesting Mike Waxx and Gabe of UZi to direct his commercial for Beck's Beer. I remember being on the phone with Waxx after reading, and we were spazzing. When you work hard and don't waste your opportunities, these are the types of things that happen."
Theophilus London ft. Trouble Andrew, "Snow Angel"
"This is a song that was produced by Mike of UZi. He made it a while ago and played it for Trouble Andrew while working on Trouble's album sometime last year. Trouble then sent it over to Theophilus, who loved it and made it his own song."
RiFF RaFF's Dazed Magazine Cover Story
"This is one of the best UZi pieces. RiFF is probably is one of the most intelligent dudes I've ever met. He really is a fucking genius. But this was cool because it was the cover story of Dazed Magazine that month. Shooting the film to accompany that was an honor."
Kreayshawn, "Summertime"
"This was the video that kind of started everything for us. We had just moved to LA from Ohio, and we had literally nothing and were desperately looking for a big break. One night Mike of UZi and I went to Terry Richardson's 'Terrywood' show at OH WOW. While waiting outside, and all these celebrities started showing up back to back—Paris, Kreay, Jared Leto, Pamela Anderson—so we pulled out cameras and started filming.
"The next day we tweeted the link to the video loop we had shot of Kreayshawn. She saw it somehow, followed us back, and we started DM-ing. A few weeks later we shot the music video for 'Summertime' in Hollywood."
Kid Cudi on Jimmy Kimmel Live
"I was at a Big Sean shoot in Downtown LA, and my friend Mike Waxx called me up and said, 'Dude I need you to make it to Hollywood in 30 minutes. I just got a call for us to go film Cudi at Jimmy Kimmel.' I literally ran down stairs, hopped in a cab, and said 'Please, sir, drive as fast as you can.' The driver looked at me, laughed, and said, 'You got the right driver' and drove hella fast all the way to Hollywood. We ended up getting to Kimmel five minutes before Cudi went on stage."
