Krept and Nala

When I think of Krept, I picture half of the hip-hop duo behind “Freak of the Week”, a tune intrinsic to my early clubbing days in Sheffield. Now, 180 miles south, I’m jotting down questions for the rapper in HUNGER’s northwest London office, trying to channel my 17-year-old self as I relay them to Krept via voice note. Between preparing for the launch of his new album, Young Kingz 2, his entrepreneurial ventures in baby skincare and co- parenting, Krept, 34, is a little too caught up to chat in person. Luckily, that doesn’t matter — his answers are crafted with care and he communicates articulately, but I guess that’s unsurprising for a Guinness World Record-winning wordsmith. The south Londoner’s voice is much softer than I had expected, and it makes me wonder whether his intonation has always been this way or if it’s a byproduct of becoming part of another duo in recent years — with his so-called “twin”, the “CEO” of his company: his daughter, Nala.

Scarlett Coughlan: First off, how was your shoot with Nala? Is it very different shooting with a four-year-old?

Krept: The shoot with Nala was good. It’s a lot easier now that she’s older — I remember when I did my first shoot with her when she was young for Nala’s Baby [his children’s skincare line], it
was so difficult getting her to keep still. She was very impatient, she wouldn’t listen, but now she can follow instructions, she’s got patience, she understands what’s going on. So, yeah, shooting with a four-year-old is a lot better than shooting with a two-year-old.

SC: So you have Young Kingz 2 coming out in February. What can we expect from the new album?

K: Yeah, so Young Kingz 2 is coming out on February 7. And I feel like, with this album, there’s a lot of growth, there are a lot of topics that we cover, there are a lot of personal records on there, about family and things we’ve been going through, change. And good music, good vibes. We love to give a bit of versatility on projects, so that’s what we’re looking forward to, people hearing the growth.