The Diary of a CEOKrept: From Rapper To Building A £17.5 Million Baby Business! | E164
CHAPTERS
- 3:00 – 9:00
South London Upbringing: Violence, Loss, and Seeing the Bigger Picture
Krept describes growing up in Croydon surrounded by gangs, gunshots and friends dying or going to prison, while his dad spent much of his childhood incarcerated. A pivotal moment came when police arrived at his home and his mum said, ‘I failed as a mum’, catalyzing his determination to finish college, go to university, and not become another statistic.
- •Environment normalised gunshots and death from age 13; friends frequently killed or jailed.
- •Father in prison for much of his youth; raised by a single mother under financial stress.
- •Mum’s ‘I failed as a mum’ comment became a lifelong motivator to make her proud.
- •He always tried to see the bigger picture and consciously avoided the ‘cycle’ of street retaliation and incarceration.
- 9:00 – 26:00
Konan’s Family Attack and Choosing Music Over Retaliation
Krept recounts the night Konan narrowly escaped assassination at his front door, resulting in his mum being shot and his stepdad killed while wrestling the gunmen. In the aftermath, the crew sat in a car weighing revenge versus fully committing to music; choosing the latter led directly to their ‘Otis’ freestyle going viral and an invitation to tour with Skepta.
- •Konan’s paranoia and quick reaction at his front door likely saved his life.
- •Gunmen forced entry; Konan’s mum was shot, his stepdad killed protecting them.
- •Friends presented two options: retaliate, or pour everything into music.
- •Their ‘Otis’ cover went viral immediately after, leading Skepta to put them on a sold‑out tour and pay them despite not needing them on the bill.
- •Krept frames this as a crucial sliding‑door moment where a different choice could have ended careers or lives.
- 26:00 – 40:00
Success, Distraction, and the Unprocessed Weight of Grief
The conversation shifts to how success can distract from trauma rather than heal it. Krept talks about the lack of mental‑health dialogue among Black men, his best friend Nash’s suicide with no obvious warning signs, and his own habit of numbing grief by staying busy instead of processing feelings.
- •He distinguishes success as distraction, not cure, for deep emotional pain.
- •In Black male culture, talking about mental health is often seen as weakness; crying is discouraged.
- •Nash appeared happy and excited about their restaurant project yet died by suicide days later, leaving Krept with unanswered questions.
- •This loss convinced him of the importance of expressing emotions and normalising therapy, even though he hasn’t yet gone himself.
- •He acknowledges fear of stopping the ‘treadmill’ and facing accumulated grief.
- 40:00 – 1:06:00
Crepes & Cones: Romantic Idea, Brutal Reality
Krept details the origins and chaotic execution of Crepes & Cones, a restaurant originally envisioned with Nash at the helm. After builders ripped them off and the build cost tripled, Nash died by suicide the week of launch, forcing Krept to simultaneously grieve and run a hospitality business that depended on staff and customer emotions.
- •Crepes & Cones started from a playful tweet and a fan idea; later became serious when Nash wanted a career change.
- •Build phase was plagued by unreliable builders, middlemen skimming money, and cost overruns—his ‘worst intro to business’.
- •Nash died days before launch; they chose to open anyway, both to honour him and because the restaurant was committed.
- •Krept literally worked in the restaurant—cleaning toilets, serving customers—while fans assumed it was a PR stunt.
- •He describes restaurants as uniquely stressful: operational success depends on multiple staff members’ moods plus volatile customer expectations.
- •COVID later hit; although the brand survived financially, the mental toll made him want out until experienced operators partnered with them.
- 1:06:00 – 1:20:00
Young Kings, Radio, and the Power of Over‑Delivering
Returning to music, Krept explains how guidance from Skepta pushed them to ignore label pressure, release music they truly loved, and win independently with ‘Young Kings’ and ‘Don’t Waste My Time’. Their habit of over‑delivering on a small Apple radio opportunity led to extended runs, high‑profile guests and ultimately their TV presence on ‘The Rap Game’.
- •Post‑‘Otis’, labels suggested gimmicks like adding a female member or doing comedy, undermining their artistic identity.
- •Skepta told them to forget labels, radio and TV and just ‘do you’ independently; the industry would come to them.
- •Their independent project ‘Young Kings’ became the highest‑charting UK independent album at the time, earning a Guinness World Record.
- •‘Don’t Waste My Time’—made without caring about radio—blew up, landed in Creed’s soundtrack, and triggered a wave of label offers.
- •They transformed a short Apple radio slot into a fully‑fledged show with games and big‑name guests, which led to TV opportunities.
- •Stephen and Krept frame opportunities as ‘dominoes’: hitting the first one hard triggers a chain of bigger chances.
- 1:20:00 – 1:49:00
Money, Credit Traps, and Hip‑Hop’s Lifestyle Pressure
The pair dissect how poor financial education and hip‑hop culture’s emphasis on visible wealth push young people into destructive money habits. They share their own mistakes with student overdrafts and present a more sustainable approach—prioritising long‑term security and investments over instant status spending.
- •Neither school nor parents taught them about credit scores, CCJs, overdrafts or long‑term consequences of defaulting.
- •University credit offers and overdrafts are likened to traps, especially for students from poorer backgrounds.
- •Krept advocates delaying lifestyle upgrades and warns about ‘silent killers’ like recurring bills and favours.
- •Hip‑hop videos and club culture nudge artists to buy watches, chains and bottles to signal success and ease insecurity.
- •He accepts some spend is ‘branding’ for rappers, but pushes for a compromise: minimal ‘starter pack’ plus serious allocation to assets and businesses.
- •They highlight the structural issue of gambling shops clustering in deprived areas, mirroring how financial systems target the insecure.
- 1:49:00 – 2:04:00
Defying Labels: Building Nala’s Baby into a £17.5m Brand
Prompted by his daughter’s impending birth and his ex‑partner Sasha’s concerns about harmful ingredients in baby products, Krept co‑created Nala’s Baby, a natural baby skin and haircare range. After two years of formulation, partnering with a strong manufacturer, and insisting on high standards at an affordable price, the brand launched into 400 Boots stores, sold out rapidly and achieved a valuation of £17.5m.
- •Think Dirty app exposed that mainstream baby products scored poorly on ingredient safety; almost no affordable ‘zero‑rated’ options existed.
- •Krept decided, ‘Why don’t we make it?’ and partnered with an experienced, but private, industry expert and a top‑tier manufacturer.
- •They demanded: near‑100% naturally derived, vegan, cruelty‑free, tear‑free, suitable for sensitive/eczema‑prone skin, and a £5–5.50 price point.
- •This required sacrificing margin, betting on volume, and repeatedly delaying launch to perfect formulations instead of cutting corners.
- •He and Sasha continued as business partners despite their romantic breakup, putting their daughter’s future and legacy first.
- •Initial production meant to last three months sold out in under two weeks; Boots urgently requested more stock, and products even appeared resold on eBay.
- •Valuation (~£17.5m) came from retail orders and expected rate of sale, not yet fully including D2C upside.
- 2:04:00 – 2:18:00
Backstage Stabbing, Cadet’s Death, and Confronting Mortality
Krept briefly recounts a near‑fatal backstage stabbing in Birmingham involving unknown assailants. He then delves into the far deeper pain of losing his cousin Cadet in a drunk‑driving crash just as Cadet’s career was taking off, compounded by his uncle’s terminal brain tumour and subsequent death.
- •At a BBC event, unknown men rushed backstage, grabbed his chain and slashed at him with knives; his leg wound narrowly missed a major artery.
- •Nash died in 2018; within a year, Cadet (Blaine) died in a taxi hit head‑on by a drunk van driver on a country road en route to a show.
- •Small timing differences (missed earlier cab, 10 seconds either way) might have avoided the crash, highlighting the randomness of fate.
- •Cadet had just secured his own apartment, a platinum‑bound independent single with Dino, and had declined label advances on Krept’s advice.
- •His uncle, Cadet’s father, outlived a grim prognosis by years but eventually died; both men were core role models in Krept’s life.
- •Finding out about Cadet’s death while in a Dubai hotel lobby, then enduring a long flight home, remains one of his most traumatic memories.
- 2:18:00 – 2:38:00
Teams, Experts, and Learning to Be the ‘Dumbest’ in the Room
Using lessons from Crepes & Cones and Nala’s Baby, Krept and Stephen discuss how pivotal early hiring decisions are. They argue that great founders recruit people who are more capable than they are, even if it feels intimidating, whereas insecure founders default to underqualified friends like ‘Dave from school’.
- •Crepes & Cones taught Krept not to blindly trust vendors and to rigorously question costs and competence.
- •With Nala’s Baby, he deliberately let domain experts lead in areas he didn’t understand, while holding a strong vision and standards.
- •Stephen notes ‘good people hire good people, bad people hire bad people’ and that early hires often determine a startup’s fate.
- •Many young founders avoid recruiting world‑class talent because they fear managing someone more experienced or older.
- •Both emphasise that the best growth happens when you feel like you ‘shouldn’t be there’—the least knowledgeable person at the table.
- 2:38:00
Regret, Reconciliation, and Re‑Focusing on What Matters
In one of the most emotional segments, Krept reflects on the gift of having reconciled with Cadet before his death, and how that experience now shapes how quickly he resolves conflicts with loved ones. Stephen pushes him gently on whether he needs therapy and whether he is still hiding behind busyness to avoid pain.
- •Krept and Cadet had a rocky phase fuelled by frustrations over music careers; they made peace and rebuilt their bond before Cadet died.
- •He’s grateful he doesn’t have to live with the regret of harsh ‘last words’ or unresolved conflict.
- •That lesson now drives him to resolve family disputes quickly—‘let’s argue now and then hug’—rather than let rifts drag on.
- •Attending his uncle’s funeral and seeing who turned up crystallised for him who really matters and where to invest time.
- •He admits therapy scares him because it would force him to stop and fully feel, but he believes he should go.
- •In answer to the final question—when he last changed his mind in a life‑changing way—he cites deciding to continue Nala’s Baby with his ex, choosing their daughter’s future over personal discomfort.
