IN CONVERSATION WITH KONAN

interview by JANA LETONJA

Konan, one half of Krept & Konan, is a visionary music artist credited with bringing UK rap and grime to a global audience. The empire Konan has built spans from hospitality to charity. To give back, Krept & Konan established the Positive Direction Foundation which works to pave brighter futures for at-risk youth, along with Konan’s own mental health charity launching later this year. 

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Konan, how did your career in music, and as part of Krept & Konan, begin?

I come from a very musical family, so music was always in my DNA. My late father was a big Reggae artist, one of the pioneers of the genre, and my mom was a singer. My mom and dad used to make music together. She would do background vocals for him. When we were kids, my brother had an R&B group that my mom managed. From all angles, it was very linear for me to go into music. It was really the only direction I knew my life was going to go into. 

Krept and I met through mutual friends in school. There was a time when we first started hanging out that he played me some voice notes of him freestyling. We had a lot in common, and were obsessed with music. I remember saying to the Reds, someone else I was making music with at the time, that we had to get him involved in the music team. From there, we were a big collective. We all were from the same area, making music together. It was great. 

You’ve been credited as bringing UK rap to global audiences. How do you believe you’ve been able to do that, and what does such credit mean to you?

We just knew from the beginning that we needed to take what we were doing internationally. It was never done properly before and coming up, a big motivation for me was to do things that were not done before. Obviously when you're making rap music, the origins stem from America, so we knew we needed to find a way to make music with people that we grew up listening to and are competing on the same level as them. That was always in our minds from the beginning. 

I appreciate receiving credit for that because we really did it, and it wasn't easy. There were always stages of criticism because we were trying something different. With fashion in particular, we aimed to blend the norm for UK artists, with the tracksuits and gritty look, with a more flashy American style that included chains and fur coats, allowing us to be a bit more flamboyant.  With the music, we pushed the boundaries of what UK rap sounded like through some of the collaborations we did, featuring artists such as French Montana to Wiz Kid, Jeremih to Beenie Man. There was a lot happening during that stage. To this day, we still believe that collaborating with artists from different countries is important, and we showcase this on our upcoming album ‘Young Kingz II’. 

Your lyrics are known to have meaningful narratives about important issues. What inspires you in writing music, and how do you approach writing a new song?

In terms of inspiration, I really just write about life and what I’ve been through, what I’ve seen, what people around me have seen. It’s the pain, happiness, different acts and aspects of life, love, relationships, family, all going into the music. It’s definitely a form of therapy and a form of self expression. There’s no better way to express yourself than through music. It’s about understanding people and how they feel with a beat behind it. The heart behind music is its relatability and ability to bring people from all walks of life together. 

As for how I approach the writing process, it really depends on what’s happening in my life. For example, if I go to the club and see everyone getting into the music, I feel inspired to create a club song. I go home, call up my producer, and we create something that gets everyone on their feet. On the other hand, when something painful or emotional happens, whether it’s love or heartbreak, I take a more meticulous approach, exploring every feeling and truly try to paint what I’m going through with my words. 

What is coming up next for you in music? What can you share with us about your upcoming musical projects

We have a new album coming out, and it's been five years since our last project ‘Revenge is Sweet’, which reached the top 5 in the UK charts and sold over a million singles. This marks an important moment for us, it's a full circle. This project is titled ‘Young Kingz II’, and the first ‘Young Kingz’ project was what changed everything for us. It became the highest-charting independent album ever in the UK across any genre, earning us a Guinness World Record. We also won a MOBO Award and a BET Award. Now that we've become independent artists again, it feels only right to kick off round two of such an impactful project for us. There will be sixteen songs on the album, which is set to be released on 7th February 2025, and it's going to be sensational.

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You’ve built an empire that spans from hospitality to charity. Together with Prept, you’ve launched your own restaurant Crepes & Cones. How was the idea for this born, and how has the restaurant develped since its launch in 2018?

First, the name originated from our names, Krept and Konan, which we transformed into ‘Crepes and Cones’. This made perfect sense, considering we are known for our wordplay and metaphors. We involved another artist, J2K, who has experience in both the music and business worlds, particularly as the owner of Crep Protect. We assembled a strong in-house team to launch the venture, including my mum, our friend Nash, who attended college with Krept, and J2K. We all came together and worked to bring it to life. Nash was meant to be the lead manager alongside my mum, but unfortunately, he passed away on the day the shop was completed. We had already booked the launch and had the mayor scheduled to help open it, but with our friend’s passing, we were conflicted about whether to proceed. Ultimately, we pushed through for his sake and decided to open. So, that’s really how the restaurant came to be. We learned a lot about business through this restaurant venture, which led me to start other projects and invest in various startup companies. 

You’ve also established the Positive Direction Foundation, which works to pave brighter futures for at-risk youth. Tell us more about the foundation, its mission and projects you work on in the scope of the foudation.

Krept and I founded Positive Direction to give back to our area. When we were young kids coming up in the music scene, we didn’t really have anyone to guide us through this industry. With this Foundation, we are giving the next generation a direct lesson and insight into how we started our music careers and became Krept & Konan. We have songwriters that have helped on our albums teach them how to songwrite, graphic designers that have worked on our albums teach the basics of graphic design, and producers who have worked on our biggest hits come in and teach them how to make a good beat. We just want to leverage the opportunity gap and give them real world experience. Like I said, we had no guidance coming into the scene and were just winging everything and freestyling. We thought if there was someone like us who had made it big from our area, we would have loved to learn the tools and information on how the whole thing works. We prepare them for struggles they may go through and basically give them as much of a leg-up as we can. 

Later this year, you’ll also be launching your mental health charity. What inspired this project, and how will it help the community?

I got involved in a project for Channel Four called ‘Trapped in Trauma’, where they wanted me to speak about PTSD. There was a lot of interest in speaking about it in a way that’s different to how veterans speak about it after the war. The project aimed to open up PTSD in a way that hadn’t been done. I would be doing live therapy, and it was all a bit nerve wracking, especially with it being documented on TV . I was a bit skeptical about being so vulnerable at first. Being a street rapper, the idea of being so publicly vulnerable was overwhelming. There’s this pressure being from the streets to push that all aside and toughen up, but I’m really passionate about opening up doors and starting important conversations. I ended up doing it and it really opened my eyes to certain behaviors and traumas that I’ve been holding onto. I learned a lot about why I am the way I am and react to certain situations. 

After it came out, I got hundreds of messages every day from men and women who had resonated with the program. It was crazy, I’ve never seen such a response from anything I’ve ever done, especially in terms of age range. It was everyone from 50 to 35 to 17 year olds of all races messaging me about the impact it had on them. I was getting voice memos from grown men crying, desperate for mental health support and not knowing how to do so. With the cost of living crisis, some people can barely afford food and a roof over their head, let alone therapy. So many men and women out there needed accessible help and I knew it was up to me to do something about it with the platform I have. It’s a big responsibility to have that weight on your shoulders and take on people’s pain, but in the same way that they say “Hurt people, hurt people”, I believe that “Healed people, heal people”. 

From there, we put together a team and started brainstorming a way to help people get therapy for free. The charity is called ‘Kalming Minds’ and is coming later this year. We’re in the process of really getting all the logistics in place and making sure it’s perfect. We’re dealing with people's mental health so we want to get it really right. I’ve been talking to dozens and dozens of therapists, finding out where they can get involved, what they specialize in, and if they’d be willing to donate their time for the cause. Our goal is to provide support around the country and then sky’s the limit. 

What role does fashion play in your life, and how would you describe your style?

Fashion plays a big part in my life. Everyday we have to wear clothes and are in the spotlight, so you have to stay on top of it. Especially as a rapper, a big part of the culture is fashion. Being a grime artist or hip hop artist or just a musician in general, we’re always being seen and what we wear has influence on people. People look up to us so how we present ourselves is very important. 

How would I describe my style? Flamboyant. I switch from having a cool laid back look or I might have loud jeans with some crazy flowers on them, or a bold hoodie or blazer. It all just depends on the mood and the moment for me. I like to keep it multifaceted. 

What are you most excited about in fashion?

I’m excited to see some new stuff. I love seeing new clothes and new vibes. As a musician, I’m obviously drawn to creativity and seeing what people can dream up. Even after all these years, I’m still blown away by new music and fashion, when someone comes up with a sick lyric or creates a new look. It’s cool to see what designers can translate from their brain onto a catwalk. I’m excited to see what everyone comes up with each new season. 

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