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Category
Writing
Annual ID
OS23_IC008S
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.
Depzman was digitally resurrected to release one final song titled ‘Life Cut Short’ delivering a powerful anti-knife message. Birmingham rapper Shadow worked with Depzman’s mum Alison Cope and Depzman’s old crew to pen the track. The process began with a 3-hour conversation. Shadow said “I could feel the pain in Alison’s voice as she told me every detail of his life and I knew that I had to capture that pain when putting all of this down in writing.” The track was split into 3 chapters - his childhood, his career trajectory and his death.
After the meeting Shadow went away to write the lyrics, saying “I pretty much solely listened to Depz’s music for weeks in the run up to sitting down and writing the track. As an artist, I have my own style and techniques for writing the flows and rhythms I use, but for this I had to do my best to put that to one side and try to emulate Depz’s style as much as I could.” The track was workshopped with Depzman’s old crew to make it as authentic as possible.
On the anniversary of his funeral, the song launched with a music video on SBTV, the UK’s biggest urban music channel. The hyper-targeted media push ensured it reached our key audience of young people, getting 6 million plays in 2 weeks.
Depzman may be gone, but through the lyrics of this song his voice and message will live on.
Depzman was digitally resurrected to release one final song titled ‘Life Cut Short’ delivering a powerful anti-knife message. Birmingham rapper Shadow worked with Depzman’s mum Alison Cope and Depzman’s old crew to pen the track. The process began with a 3-hour conversation. Shadow said “I could feel the pain in Alison’s voice as she told me every detail of his life and I knew that I had to capture that pain when putting all of this down in writing.” The track was split into 3 chapters - his childhood, his career trajectory and his death.
After the meeting Shadow went away to write the lyrics, saying “I pretty much solely listened to Depz’s music for weeks in the run up to sitting down and writing the track. As an artist, I have my own style and techniques for writing the flows and rhythms I use, but for this I had to do my best to put that to one side and try to emulate Depz’s style as much as I could.” The track was workshopped with Depzman’s old crew to make it as authentic as possible.
On the anniversary of his funeral, the song launched with a music video on SBTV, the UK’s biggest urban music channel. The hyper-targeted media push ensured it reached our key audience of young people, getting 6 million plays in 2 weeks.
Depzman may be gone, but through the lyrics of this song his voice and message will live on.
2023 Awards
Total Points: 21
Silver Pencil
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
Head of Production
Fred Ashworth
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
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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