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Category
Popular Culture Impact
Annual ID
OS23_CD016M
About the Work
Joshua Ribera AKA Depzman was a well-known Birmingham grime rapper on the cusp of stardom, but his life was cut short after he was stabbed to death in 2013. Since his death there have been 1,877 more knife killings in the UK. The Joshua Ribera Foundation was founded to educate young people about knife crime. Government initiatives and campaigns clearly weren’t working so they needed a way to get the message heard.
Grime music is often criticised for glamorising violence to impressionable listeners because lyrics tell the story of real violence and crime that rappers have experienced. Depzman’s music told the story of his life, but not his death. If it somehow could, we knew young people would listen. Using deepfake technology and audio manipulation, Depzman was digitally resurrected. We created a new track titled ‘Life Cut Short’ delivering a powerful anti-knife message.
On the night before launch, his mother Alison Cope posted a black square with the launch date on his old Instagram which still has 18k followers. On the anniversary of his funeral, the music video launched on SBTV, the UK’s biggest urban music channel. SBTV had launched Depzman’s career over a decade before and was the perfect media partner.
The hyper-targeted media push ensured it reached our key audience of young people. Depz fans and the grime community shared it, reaching 6 million plays in 2 weeks across TikTok, Spotify and Youtube – even ranking #11 on YouTube’s trending videos. People created their own versions of the song on TikTok, made reaction videos on Youtube and the song got airtime on BBC radio.
‘Life Cut Short’ got millions of plays, the grime community came together to share our anti-knife message and the campaign reached people that a government campaign never would.
2023 Awards
Total Points: 3
Merit
Credits
Agency
McCann / London
PR / Marketing Agency
Weber Shandwick / London
Production Company
Intergalactic Studios / London
Music / Sound Production Company
Native Music / London
Post Production Company
Black Kite / London
Media Distribution Company
SBTV / London
Chief Creative Officer
Rob Doubal
Laurence Thomson
Creative Director
James Crosby
William Cottam
Director
Brightnight
Editor
Matt Dollings
Executive Producer
Pedro Pinto
Rhory Daniels
Tom Ringsby
Producer
Andrei Cebotari
Chief Production Officer
Ben Clark
Creative
Elliot Lee
Rory Peyton Jones
Music Producer
PhazeFX
Performer
T Roadz
Planner
Joy Molan
Strategy Director
Jj Bender
Account Manager
Rohin Lalli
Agency In-House Production
Craft / London
Business Director
Tom Oliver
Charity Partner
NSPCC / London
Colourist
Andi Chu
Deepfake Artist
MagicofBarca
Director of Photography & Editor
Paddy Cartwright
Head Of Production
Fred Ashworth
Managing director
Isaac Densu
Music Executive Producer
Dan Neale
Project director
Hannah Graff
Senior Project Manager
Georgia Wettenhall
Songwriter
Shadow CV
Alison Cope
Joshua Ribera
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