Jesse Jo Stark is a woman of many talents. When she isn’t helping her family run Chrome Hearts and designing custom pieces for the world’s most stylish people, she’s making music. Both of her passions come together in the video for her new song, “Who Knew," featuring Lil Yachty. Stepping behind the camera for the first time, Stark directs Yachty as he and the singer trade scenes decked out in custom and archival Chrome Hearts. “I'm always heavily involved in the creative,” Stark tells Complex, “but I do view this as my first true director presence because there were so many different layers that I'd never experienced before. I would say it's probably the only way I want to do everything now.”
The sound of “Who Knew” mixes ethereal pop with classic rock. It’s paired with the distorted Yachty delivery that he most prominently showcased on his 2023 album Let’s Start Here and Stark’s sultry vocals. The lyrics are a message about the strength and purity of femininity, and the power women can have over their partners.
The visuals offer the perfect compliment. Viewers are transported into a setting reminiscent of an LA noir. In the opening shots, Yachty stumbles down a winding staircase in a huge mansion and grabs a duffel bag before meeting Stark in the driveway for a getaway in a Cadillac coupe. By the video’s end, Stark and Yachty are in a dreamscape surrounded by white rabbits and lightning bolts.
One of Stark’s favorite shots places her on the floor of the mansion beside one of the giant crosses that have become a signature motif of her family’s brand. Another finds Yachty and Stark in a hallway, which she says was a nod to Madonna's “Justify My Love” video.
While this was Stark’s first time working with Yachty on music, the two had connected previously through fashion: Stark has worked on a number of custom Chrome Hearts pieces for the Atlanta rapper. Eventually, he heard her perform and it led to “Who Knew.” .
“The whole process of working with him was just really intentional. His love of music and fashion is overwhelming,” says Stark. “With the video, he trusted me and pushed me to want to make something really great and present both sides of what I have to offer all in one. He works his ass off. [The video shoot] was really one of my favorite days being an artist.”
Yachty makes his first appearance in a pair of red leather overalls with silver rivets, layered with a white button-up shirt featuring red leather crosses on the cuffs.
Stark’s looks transition between rugged leather looks and delicate silk dresses. The standout is a red corset dress and white fur coat. Other ensembles mix one of her mother Laurie Lynn’s belts from the ’90s, a black leather bondage dress she made in 2024, and her “Sugar Jones” boots. Elsewhere, Yachty and Stark appear in matching biker-inspired black leather looks that have helped establish the identity of Chrome Hearts since its founding in 1988. Look close enough and you'll also see insane Chrome accessories, from metal license plate covers to wooden bird cages.
“A lot of the silhouettes and the tones were an ode to my mother's aesthetic, which she created for the brand when I was a child,” says Stark.
The Stark and Yachty linkup is the latest example of Chrome Hearts grip on hip-hop in recent years, a relationship that’s resulted in everything from custom Rolls-Royce Cullinans for Drake to tour looks for Offset.
Of course, the brand’s presence isn’t limited to hip-hop. The gothic designs have elevated on-stage looks for modern rock stars like Yungblud, A-listers’ red carpet moments, and become a pivotal piece of the pregame uniform for athletes like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Stark won’t pick a favorite project from the past five years, but she does say the custom Chrome look she created for Kim Kardashian at the 2025 Met Gala as one she is especially proud of.
“I think Kim's look for the Met was incredible,” she says. “That was a new venture. I learned a lot.”
The Starks have managed to maintain an air of mystery around their brand by eschewing press and runway shows.. Their storefronts in cities around the world are hidden in plain sight. Don’t let the trucker hats and cross-patch denim on Grailed fool you—the brand is still incredibly exclusive (and prohibitively expensive). Stark, a self-proclaimed indie musician, wants her family’s brand to stay that way as long as possible.
“Being mysterious in the day of the internet is so hard. I hope to God we remain there because I don't think anything should be entirely accessible,” says Stark. “I want Chrome Hearts to be indie.”