Krept: From Rapper To Building A £17.5 Million Baby Business! | E164

Someone grabbed my chain, and then I just remember seeing knives.

A BBC live music event was ended early last night. The rapper, Krept, was attacked backstage.

If this was a millimeter deeper, then it would've been a different scenario.

He's a rapper and has collaborated with the likes of Headie One and Stormzy. Krept and Kone!

She is the freak of the week.

Kone and Stepdad was killed.

Karan out of the room trying to fight them. Two more gunshots. Everything silent.

We can either go and retaliate or we take this music thing seriously, actually try to make it out of where we're coming from. The next thing we put out went viral. Skepta reached out and said, "Oh, we wanna bring you guys on tour." It was such a life-changing moment for us. We started doing radio, TV, and we started branching out.

Narler's Baby, full of natural goodness.

You would never put a rapper launching a baby skincare line in the same sentence. You should always feel uncomfortable, almost like you shouldn't be here. And that's the growth room, man. You can't be afraid of that.

Do you know what the company's valued at?

17 and a half.

What do you think Blaine would think of Narler Baby?

Cadet, whose real name was Blaine Johnson, has died.

He was on the brink of doing something great. (instrumental music plays)

What's on your mind?

We've got this complex, like, I'm not gonna cry. Like it makes you feel like less of a man or something. I swear this scares me.

So without further ado, I'm Stephen Bartlett, and this is The Diary of a CEO. I hope nobody's listening, but if you are, then please keep this to yourself. (instrumental music plays) Krept, first of all, thank you for being here. I think it's... Gotta be honest, I think you're one of the smartest looking guests I've ever had sit in the chair.

(laughs)

I'm very jealous of your outfit today.

Thank you, man.

It's, it's sick. I mean, the designer's a friend of mine who, um, who I met in Manchester a couple of, couple of months back. But where I wanted to start with you is, um, back in South London, back in Croydon. I want you to, if you can, give me the context in which you were, you were raised. And when I say context, I mean like what were those things in your environment at an early age that ultimately shaped who you were and left those little kind of foot... Those fingerprints on your personality and character?

To be honest, like, when I was younger and when I was in school, like, all I knew and all my friendships knew were, you know, gangs and, you know, that kind of lifestyle. That's all that we saw. Like, you know, everybody that I would go to school with or, you know, outside of school, that was... That's what it was. And, you know, we got caught up in a load of nonsense growing up, but I was one of those people that always saw the bigger picture, and I always thought, "I don't wanna end up going to jail, and I don't wanna end up dying," because that's what I saw. Like, I, I've lost so much friends due to, you know, coming from where we're coming from, and like seeing friends that I've grown up with pass away to violence or crimes or, you know. Friends, I've got loads of friends that are in jail for life, and some for even things they didn't even do. So I always used to be like, you know, when, when, when my friends was doing this or doing that, I'd always be like, "I wanna, I wanna try and do this and try and do that," and I... Because I do not wanna end up in jail or dying. Like, that was, you know... That's what we was used to, like, and it's sad because it's like... It felt so normal. Like, the first time, you know, I was like 13 and hearing gunshots outside my house and coming out and someone's on the floor dead, and I'm a 13-year-old young boy, and it was like it was normal. It wasn't even like something that seemed abnormal at the time. It just felt like this is how it is when you live where you live or where you're from where you're from, and that's what it was. Do you know what I mean? And I feel like I've always, always had my eye on being more than that. Like, all the time. So when, you know, my friends was getting involved in certain things, I was like, "No, I'm gonna, I'm gonna finish college, I'm gonna go to university, and I'm gonna try my best to keep myself, you know, on a positive path." Like, and I always thought this all the time, and I always said, "Yeah, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna fall into this trap," because I'm seeing, you know, my friends falling into... I'm seeing my friends go to jail, I'm seeing my friends die, and I'm like, like, "When is it..." And it's, and it doesn't end. It doesn't stop. You know, new issues happen. Now, you know, you've got a problem with these people because of this, or like... And it just... It's a constant cycle, and I feel like I didn't want to get trapped in that cycle.