Depzman, aka Joshua Ribera, a rapper who was stabbed to death aged 18 in 2013, comes back to life in this emotional music video using Deepfake technology, directed by directing duo BRIGHTNIGHT.

After opening with a short series of videos of the young rapper performing and his breakout on YouTube, the video then displays a message that gives context to the project - co-commissioned by The Joshua Ribera Foundation, the charity that combats knife crime in his name, and SBTV - and how it came about. 

BRIGHTNIGHT came up with the idea and pitched it to the charity, in partnership with advertising agency McCann London. The team recreated Depzman using Deepfake video technology and a rapper body double who could lip sync the lyrics and mimic Depz’s characteristic movement, down to the movement of the head and hands.

In conjunction with the film, an original track with digitally manipulated vocals and a classic 140bmp grime beat were produced. Rapper ShadowCV ghostwrote the lyrics with Alison Cope, Depzman’s mum, and took inspiration from Depz’s life story and his old videos. Some of his old lyrics were also incorporated into the song.

“Deepfake technology gets a lot of criticism in the news but we wanted to show that it can be used for good," say BRIGHTNIGHT. 

Absorbing and poignant, the video is a standout use of the technology, and an example of the good that can come from creative collaboration.