Jesse Jo Stark’s New Music Video Is a Chrome Hearts Fever Dream
In the scintillating new music video for her song “Who Knew,” Jesse Jo Stark wraps you around her little finger. Accompanied by some of the most coveted Chrome Hearts bling you’ll ever lay eyes on. “I feel like you’re waltzing through this beautiful editorial with Chrome running through it like a pulse,” Stark says via email.
The video follows Stark and featured rapper Lil Yachty as they escape a heist in a pimped-out Cadillac. It’s the ideal embellishment to the track’s Lana Del Rey-style cinematic pop, studded with an icy opening verse from Yachty. The whole thing edges toward a dramatic guitar solo. “I wanted an epic instrumental,” Stark says. “It’s sexy and haunting.”
Sexy, haunting pop is very much Stark’s thing. Since the release of her debut EP Down Your Drain in 2014, the LA-born singer has earned a dedicated following for her fusion of ’80s synth, lo-fi rock, and gothic glam. She’s also, as the nepo baby police will clamour to tell you, the daughter of Richard Stark, founder of Chrome Hearts, and the label’s creative director. Hence why the video, directed by Stark, is adorned with the ostentatious drip that the jewelry brand has had on lock for the past four decades. “Every piece that leaves that factory is a conversation,” Stark says.
When it came to flexing the real-life version of Stark Industries, Jesse pulled out all the stops. “Every scene felt like our family’s living room,” Stark says. “It’s the first time I have ever dressed a video of mine like this. I always loved when 2NE1 or Big Bang went insane with Chrome furniture.” Most strikingly, the video features a giant, jet-black cross borrowed from her dad’s office.
Some Chrome is cleverly kept incognito, turning the brand’s iconic motif into a series of Easter eggs that demand repeat viewing. “There’s the Chrome Hearts biker vest hanging on the rack by the door, the bird cage, a baccarat chalice next to the couch,” Stark says of some of the clandestine appearances. Even a few evil-villain, brilliant-white rabbits make an entrance — another “symbol,” Stark says cryptically. It was worth nearly turning the video’s wardrobe into an angora coat. “We had so much hair on us in the back of that car.”
The video’s wardrobe is as lavish as the jewelry that emblazons it. Along with head-to-toe Chrome, there are some of Stark’s personal treasures. “I’m a vintage collector so there are a few of my favorite pieces in there,” she says, referencing a pair of Louboutin pumps and a Dilara Findikoglu dress. Dilara “knows a woman’s body,” Stark says admiringly. Yachty also bought some of his own pieces, along with his unmistakable aura. “He’s a storyteller, his head is fabulous. He’s fucking real,” Stark says of the Atlanta rapper.
In our world of endless sponsored content, the cynic could dismiss the flashy “Who Knew” video as another blurring of culture and promotion. But this isn’t a gaudy, tasteless advert — it’s a glossy microdrama for those who like their ice with extra rocks. For Stark, it encapsulates the ethos of — and pays homage to — her family’s storied brand. As she puts it, “It just feels like them, the OGs.”
