Music
The story of Krept & Konan in 10 essential tracks
The vital duo from south London crop up at every juncture in UK rap's storied history.
Much like US hip-hop, British rap and grime’s energy is often the product of the chemistry between iconic pairings: Skepta and JME, Giggs and Blade Brown, JAE5 and J Hus. But there is one two-man group that is inseparable: Krept and Konan.
The fruitful friendship between the south London pair has lasted from their teenage years into their thirties, and shows no sign of slowing down. Together they’ve moved from making grime, to road rap, chart music and UK drill, with every track packed with their signature punchlines.
They’ve stuck by one another through career highs and some serious personal lows – viral video fame, sell-out tours and, more recently, the tragic death of Krept’s beloved cousin Cadet in a traffic collision in 2019. Along the way the south Londoners have set up their own Crepes & Cones restaurant in Croydon, started the Positive Directions Foundation to offer young people where they grew up creative workshops, and encouraged a little-known MC called Stormzy to follow in their footsteps and pursue music full-time.
Here are 10 tracks that tell their story.
1. Bars
One of Jamal Edwards’ early and most iconic filmed freestyles, this saw the relatively unknown duo – still teenagers at the time - go bar for bar surrounded by a crowd of their mates, setting the template for the hood video and freestyle visuals that defined UK road rap’s formative years. Emulating the punchline style of hit US mixtape stars like Papoose, but with aggressive, gritty flows that placed them firmly south of the Thames and echoed the grime of Brixton’s Roadside Gz, this was the video that put Krept and Konan on the map.
2. My Hood (ft. Chelsi Lauren and G Frsh)
Krept and Konan’s second mixtape, Tsunami, is considered an underground classic. Running with the south London road rap sound they adopted on debut Redrum Vol 1 (having started out in the grime scene), the tape pulled in guest spots from the likes of Ghetts and Giggs, and included a remix of the SN1 crew cut Test Out Da Nine. My Hood is more introspective though, with the 20-year-olds’ describing the discrimination and harassment they and other young black people regularly face at the hands of the police, and discussing the way systemic racism makes it difficult to escape the poverty and crime that was rife in their corner of south London. Ten years on, the message still resonates.
3. Otis
Within five days of being uploaded, the pair’s version of Otis – the beat taken from Jay-Z and Kanye West’s supergroup album Watch the Throne – had notched up a record-breaking five million views, immediately placing them at the forefront of the UK rap scene. Despite having to remove the video at the request of Jay-Z’s lawyers, their profile had soared -- and they were now hot property in the music industry.
4. Don't Waste My Time
The pair’s freshly minted hot property status was sealed with the second single off the Young Kingz mixtape, which became an instant anthem – spawning a host of remixes both official and unofficial, including one by rising star Stormzy. The track also saw Krept and Konan’s success cross the Atlantic, with New York rapper French Montana enlisting Chinx Drugs and Lil Durk for a remix that would appear on the fourth instalment of his cult Coke Boys mixtapes. This in turn led to an official UK remix with French and Chinx appearing alongside Chip, Wretch 32, and Fekky.
5. Freak Of The Week (ft. Jeremih)
Having made a name in the US, Krept and Konan capitalised on their fame when dropping debut album The Long Way Home as a joint venture between the pair’s own label, Play Dirty, and major imprints Virgin EMI and Def Jam. The album itself charted at number two in the UK, while Freak of the Week, the lead single with a notably radio-friendly sound and featuring US R&B star Jeremih, was a Top 10 hit.
6. Robbery Remix (w/ Abra Cadabra)
One of Krept and Konan’s talents has been spotting the next big trend in the UK, and collaborating with the artists spearheading it. That saw them jump on the remix of drill rapper Abra Cadabra’s massive track Robbery, matching their more energetic rhyming style with the Tottenham rapper’s booming, lethargic flows.
7. Get A Stack (ft. J Hus)
Another canny collaboration came the following year with man of the moment J Hus, who won the Mercury Prize in 2017 for his debut album Common Sense. A blend of the traditional UK rap style that Krept and Konan made their name with, and the more chart friendly, melodic music they’d tried out on The Long Way Home, J Hus’ afroswing intonations were the perfect thread tying the two together.
8. Ask Flipz (ft. Stormzy)
Though a few years younger than Krept, Stormzy was a fellow student at the Harris Academy in South Norwood, and had grown up listening to the older MCs’ tracks. It was no surprise, then, that he would have a close relationship with the pair, first appearing alongside them on the Young Kingz mixtape in 2014. This track, taken from 7 Days, showed that the younger MC was now more than able to hold his own with the pair.
9. Khalas (ft. RA)
Also from 7 Days, this time Krept and Konan are paying homage to, and featuring, an MC who was perhaps the most influential figure in their own early rapping style. RA, the de facto leader of notorious Brixton grime group Roadside Gz, had not long been released from prison after spending nearly a decade inside, and it was a sign of their mutual respect that this was one of his first songs he recorded on release. A near-eight minute barrage of hard-hitting flows and punchlines, Khalas is one of the fiercest examples of pure south London rap.
10. I Spy (ft. Headie One & K-Trap)
Following the success of the Robbery Remix a few years earlier, in 2019 Krept and Konan linked up with another Tottenham driller, Headie One, and Lambeth’s K-Trap -- two of the newer generation’s most exciting talents. A glossy video and big money boasts show off their top dog status in the rap game, but by bringing in the year’s break-out stars Krept and Konan showed they were still keeping their ears glued to the street
NOW WATCH: The Krept & Konan story in their own words, in conversation with Sian Anderson
55 min
A Conversation with Krept & Konan
Sian Anderson sits down with UK rap pioneers Krept & Konan for an in-depth chat about their career to date.