‘I was just like Jamie in Adolescence – here’s what I know after spending teen years in jail’
The hit drama Adolescence has made history as the first UK streaming show to top Netflix ratings. It has the largest viewership for any streaming show in the UK in a single week. Its raw portrayal of crime, family loyalty, and toxic masculinity has already brought in 66 million views.
But for 29-year-old UK rapper Shane Alexander Harvey, better known as Creepzz, the show’s storyline feels all too familiar. Shane’s journey from a troubled youth to an aspiring artist echoes the same struggles faced by the four-part drama’s main character Jamie (played by Owen Cooper).
Shane’s life began to spiral when he was just 13 years old, falling into the wrong crowd and normalising the dangerous habit of carrying knives. “I thought it was cool… it became normal to carry a knife with me. I thought no one could touch me with a knife,” Shane admits.
At age 15, Shane was sentenced to an 18-month custodial sentence for three knife-point robberies. Like Adolescene’s Jamie, Shane denied the accusations but was found guilty and put into a secure training unit due to his age.
After being released, he was back in prison within weeks for further offences, including GBH, with intent to wound. His troubled youth saw him bounce between various facilities, from Warren Hill to HM Young Offender Institution Wetherby and eventually HMP Norwich. Prison was a brutal reality check. “The first time in prison it was scary. You see it in films and on TV… but when I got on the prison bus, reality kicked in,” Shane recalls.
The violence and isolation of prison life weighed heavily on him, but it was also where he turned back to his childhood passion – music. Shane had always loved music. As a child, his teachers would give him CDs to encourage good behaviour, and by his early teens, he was already experimenting with songwriting and recording.
Music became his emotional outlet, especially during the darkest moments of his imprisonment. It wasn’t until he was detained at a psychiatric hospital for four years due to mental health struggles that Shane began to reflect on his life and find purpose truly.
Since his release in 2020, Shane has made significant changes. Living with his fiancée Bella and their children in Lowestoft, Suffolk, he now dedicates his time to music and community work. Alongside Bella, Shane collects food and distributes it to those in need.
He also hopes to encourage young people to avoid getting involved in knife crime, with Adolescence encouraging tough conversations between parents and their children. “I had a good upbringing,” Shane says.
“My parents were gutted when I did what I did. I remember seeing my mum crying while I was being sentenced in court and it all became a reality.”
Recently, Shane released a heartfelt tribute song to the late Lee Rigby, the British soldier murdered in a tragic attack in 2013. “His story sat with me for years. I feel now is the right time to put it out, as you never see much about it anymore, and he should not be forgotten,” Shane explains. All revenue from the song – titled Lee Rigby Tribute Song – will be donated to the Lee Rigby Foundation.
Shane’s transformation has drawn comparisons to Adolescence, where Jamie’s own journey explores the impact of social media on teens and the red pill movement. Shane, too, understands the lure of the streets and the struggle to break free.
“Kids can do better things in life. It’s not all about carrying weapons and blades. It’s about doing family things,” he says. “I used to think carrying a knife made me invincible – now I realise it was stupid, and I deeply regret how I acted.”
Through his music, Shane hopes to inspire others to choose a better path. “If I see younger kids carrying knives, I speak to them, try and help them. I’m trying to give back to the community.”
Shane’s Lee Rigby Tribute Song is out now on YouTube.
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