A singer says he risked trouble in a new music video aimed at the dependence of today's youth on smartphones - running around grabbing people's devices and throwing them.

Singer Biagio Conte, 28, of Salerno, Italy, upsets people on the streets of Rome as grabs their devices, many of them appearing to be expensive iPhones, for his solo act known as Il Conte Biagio.

People on the footpath, in parks or riding a motorbike down the street are all targeted by the musician - but not all goes according to plan, and some people react angrily to him.

The song title is "Occhiali a specchio", which is a type of shiny glasses that causes problems for people trying to take selfie photos because their hand or arm reflects in their shades.

Singer Biagio Conte grabs a phone from a man in the video
Pop star Katy Perry donning the type of Occhiali a specchio shades mentioned in the song title - which make it difficult to take a selfie due to their shininess

Biagio told The Mirror the people in the clip are real and not actors and he threw about 50 smartphones.

"I broke a lot of smartphone," he said..

"Someone tried to hit me..

"My friends talk with them to explain the situation.

"The people of production try to explain to the victims that I do it for a video."

Biagio Conte says all the people were real
The song targets our reliance on smartphones

He said the song was about the "precariousness of youth".

"The song speaks of the condition of us young," he said.

"Of dependence on smartphone.

Biagio Conte grabs a phone from a man on a motorbike
Biagio Conte says he organised friends to talk to the people after the shoot to explain he was just filming a music video

"We wanted to make something explosive that would tell our disease, this universal addiction (to) smartphone that we suffer."

He said the song was very cheerful, a departure from his new album "La mia depressione".

That translates to My Depression, he said.

"It's an album where I talk with joy and lightness of big problems: work, love, depression."

You can watch Biagio Conte's full phone smashing music video here