“We have pre-album nerves. We’re shaky.”
Award-winning and record-breaking, it seems that UK rap duo Krept & Konan cannot relax. “I’m always thinking about what we’ve still got to do, what is next to achieve,” Krept admits. Their highly-anticipated album, 'The Long Way Home', recently hit Number 2 on the iTunes chart based solely on pre-orders, last year they bagged a MOBO and a BET Award.
“Now we’re talking about dropping an EP,” he adds. “I should just do the album campaign and chill but I can’t. We’re even talking about album two already.” Konan clarifies: “It’s because we know that music is so fickle, you have to go hard. You can take one break and it can all get taken from you.” Yet it’s almost impossible to imagine the rug being swept from under Krept & Konan’s firmly placed feet when you consider how hard they have worked to get here.
Since embarking on this journey as a duo eight years ago, the South London stars have put in as much time and effort as possible to be recognised amongst the cream of the crop. And most importantly, they have done so on their own terms.
Before signing a deal with Virgin EMI Records in 2013, Krept & Konan found themselves coming up against label executives who struggled to understand their artistry and even suggested they form a group with a singer or a guitarist instead of remaining a rap double act. “It just made us think that all the hard work me and Konan had done was ignored,” Krept recalls. “But we just used that as fuel. Like ‘Cool, we’re going to do us’ and that’s when things took off and people started taking us more seriously.”
Fast forward to the present day and the Thornton Heath twosome are getting co-signs from US hip-hop power players including French Montana, Wiz Khalifa and Tyga. You only have to scan the array of features on their debut album to realise just how seriously they’re now considered: from the chilled out 'Dreams' with Ed Sheeran, to the hard-hitting 'Certified' with Rick Ross and their DJ Mustard-produced new single 'Freak Of The Week' featuring Jeremih, 'The Long Way Home' plays like a roster of current hit-makers, who have each eagerly jumped on board Krept & Konan’s well-built ship.
“(Rick Ross) was saying to us it was the best UK music he’d heard,” Konan explains of their collaboration with the Maybach Music heavyweight. “He was more gassed about the track than we were! (His feature) was completely organic.”
The inclusion of such prominent US artists on a UK rap album could be seen as a risk. Whether or not UK rappers need co-signs from their American counterparts has become hotly debated this year following Kanye West’s BRIT Awards performance in February. However, the Play Dirty pair – who were amongst Ye’s black-clad mob- are not concerned with being perceived as sell-outs or craving US acceptance. Instead, they are choosing to see their big-name features as a mark of success.
“It’s like when Madonna kissed Britney Spears,” Konan begins. “She needed that co-sign. That kiss gave Britney that stamp [of approval], like ‘Yes, she is the next big pop star.’ It was like Madonna was passing down the crown. And these artists that are massive, it is like they’re passing down a bit of their crown and giving us that co-sign. I don’t know how people can see it as a bad thing.”
While many UK rappers feel inclined to represent a home grown sound for their first LP, Krept & Konan have put together a bold body of work that has a more universal feel. “We’ll always bear in mind that people around the world can listen to this [and relate to it], instead of just pigeon-holing our music,” Krept says. “I feel like if you do that you’re just being selfish. With this album we took everything into consideration.”
While they’ve cut their teeth with street buzz and mixtape releases, Krept & Konan have made a conscious decision to bravely open up to their fans more than ever on 'The Long Way Home'. “I don’t want people to think we’re just some street guys and that we don’t go through things in life or we don’t have situations with girls,” Konan explains. “I feel like everyone is vulnerable at some stage, so we wanted to put that across. We’re not rock solid, metal-hearted people.”
The unguarded and honest approach is especially apparent on 'Roses', a touching account of close relationships featuring Scottish chart-topper Emeli Sandé. 'Roses' gives listeners a real insight into the rappers’ personal lives, as Konan describes the difficulty of watching his cousin get sent to war overseas and Krept tells the story of his college friend Kevin losing his battle with leukaemia.
“When Kevin said he had two weeks to live and they hadn’t found a donor, the last thing he said to me was ‘Spread the message,’” Krept recounts. “I was listening to the instrumental before Emeli even featured and I thought ‘What better way to spread the message than on our album?’”
It’s obvious that 'The Long Way Home' has been a real labour of love. The duo have meticulously crafted and overseen the entire project from start to finish. “We’re so involved we could actually take production credit if we wanted to,” says Krept. “We bring a suitcase (to the studio), take a shower down the hall. If we don’t sleep there, I feel like we haven’t done enough.”
In fact the duo spent stop much time in the studio that junk food caused Konan to need a root canal, and too much time staring at monitors in the dark lead Krept to need glasses. This unfaltering work ethic and focus has been vital to the duo’s success. “I’ve never had a Plan B,” Konan asserts. “It’s always been music. I knew we had to make this work no matter what.”
Krept adds: “I don’t think there is another path we’re supposed to go down. I don’t even want to think about whether there is anything I would change. Maybe a few bars here and there, but that’s it!”
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Words: Natasha Nanner (@natashananner)
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Krept & Konan will release new album 'The Long Way Home' on July 6th – pre-order LINK.
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