Joshua Ribera, also known by his rapper name Depzman, was a rising star in the grime scene when he was killed, a victim of knife crime in 2013. Since then knife crime has only continued to rise inexorably in the UK. 

The Joshua Ribera Foundation, is a charity that combats knife crime in Joshua’s name. To raise awareness around the brutal consequences of knife crime in the hopes to bring an end to brutal killings, the foundation has released an emotional deepfake music video that brings Depzman back from the dead to deliver a heartfelt anti-knife crime message.
The music video has been created by McCann London in partnership with SBTV. SBTV are responsible for the launch of many of today’s stars as Stormzy, J Hus and Ed Sheeran; Depzman was predicted to be equally as successful. The campaign was also supported by Jamal Edwards who was integral in the creative conception before his death earlier this year.

The music video uses deepfake and audio technology to tell Depzman’s tragic story through a new song called ‘Life Cut Short’, describing his childhood, career and the night that he died. 

The lyrics for the track have been ghost written by Midlands’ rappers ShadowCV and T-Roadz with support from Alison Cope, Depzman’s mum. The lyrics were inspired by Depzman’s life and attempt to emulate his “flow”, even using some of his old lyrics. 

Birmingham producer PhazeFX produced the instrumental in the style of grime from 2013 style with a 140bmp grime beat complete with choir sounds and melancholy piano. The track was produced by music company Native Music. 

To bring the track to life, a base recording was manipulated by Native Studios to recreate Depzman’s voice, combining samples, different voices and autotuning. The team researched Depzman’s recordings from around 2013 and implemented the same techniques he was using at the time such as double tracking parts of the vocal, and subtle reverb. The track aims to be as faithful as possible to his sound. 

“We used formant shifting to change the tone of the voice independently to the pitch, effectively digitally altering the size and shape of the vocal tract, and pushing the character of the voice more towards Depzman’s. Crucially, we were able to do both of these things at a very detailed level, adjusting the processing from one syllable to the next.” explained Fred Ashworth, Head of Production at Native Studios, “We were also able to tweak the length and speed of each individual word, allowing us to shorten certain words to match Depzman’s punchy, staccato energy.”

The studio also reached out to Depzman’s old crew, Invasion, to make sure it was authentic, resulting in a sound that matched Depzman’s voice at 18, just before he died. 

The campaign was created by Creatives Elliot Lee and Rory Peyton-Jones at McCann London, who were inspired to find a new way to talk to young people about knife crime through culture. The pair directed the music video under their directing alias BRIGHTNIGHT. The pair knew that Depzman was the perfect spokesperson for this campaign as young people respect him and resonate with his story.

The video has already made an impact across social media, amassing more than 4 million views so far, having been shared by artists Jaykae, JME and Skepta. The video will also play across 65 prisons up and down the UK to send a powerful message about the consequences of carrying a knife. 

“When I first saw the film it was very emotional, I wanted to continue with it even knowing the difficult emotions that the project would have.” says Alison Cope, Depzman’s Mum & Founder of The Joshua Ribera Foundation “I trusted the team to bring my son’s story to life respectfully and effectively. It makes me incredibly proud of what’s been achieved and the impact that it’s already had. I hope that this campaign will inspire the government, especially the Education Secretary, to use this film as a tool effectively and make education around youth violence compulsory in the UK.”

Through technology the team has been able to share Depzman’s story in a way that rings true to him and his family and resonates with audiences as music is embedded within culture. The campaign perfectly brings to life the young rapper showing the tragic lost potential and acting as a poignant reminder of the cruel realities of knife crime.