Steve Aoki has followed up his latest single, “Pretender,” featuring Lil Yachty and AJR, with a visual that makes a strong statement about insecurities.
The Tyler Yee–directed video highlights the notion that we only use social media to showcase our best lives, while hiding our self-doubts—and in that way, we are pretenders. The video demonstrates the lengths to which people will go to create images, particularly on Instagram, that aren’t real.
The “Pretender” visual opens with Aoki laying in bed as he posts of photo of the view from his window with the caption, “RISE AND GRIND! Early Bird Gets the Worm!,” with the hashtags, “#Sunrise #Productivity #SleepWhenImDead,” as he falls back asleep.
Throughout the video, we see more and more staged scenarios, including one where Lil Yachty is performing to a hyped crowd at a party, which just ends up being him performing in front of a green screen in front of no people. While the visual is a pretty extreme take on people feigning exciting lives online, it does make you think.
You can check out the video above. “Pretender” is expected to appear on Aoki’s long-awaited studio album Neon Future III.
