U.K. rapper Jeshi casts his eye across the youth of today in his "Generation" video, painting a dark but sympathetic portrait of a group he sees as growing up quicker than is ideal and running into problems along the way. Whether it's the omnipresent glow of a phone screen or the lurking menace of a life of crime, there are trap doors everywhere for the kids in the "Generation" video, which wears the influence of director Shane Meadows on its sleeve.
Inspired by stories from those close to him, Jeshi doubles down on the themes in his lyrics. Over a low-slung and hypnotic beat he laments "generation no hope" while offering little in the way of an escape. "Where do I go?" he asks rhetorically and repeatedly.
Speaking to The FADER via email, Jeshi said of the video: "This is me looking around and thinking how crazy the world has made it to be young these days, at the time when you shouldn’t have to care about anything you’re made to feel like you have to care about everything."
Jeshi's most recent project, Bad Taste, dropped in 2020. "Generation" will appear on its follow-up, due soon, alongside previous singles "Sick" and "Hit By A Train."
Thumbnail image courtesy of Cosmo Webber.