Krept and Konan
Krept and Konan | |
|---|---|
| Origin | South London, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Labels |
|
| Members | Casyo "Krept" Johnson Karl "Konan" Wilson |
Krept and Konan are an English hip hop duo from South London, consisting of Casyo "Krept" Johnson, born 4 February 1990 from Gipsy Hill[1] and Karl "Konan" Wilson, born 3 September 1989 from Thornton Heath and son of Delroy Wilson,[2] otherwise known as 'Jamaica's first child star'.[1] Their most successful mixtape so far Young Kingz was released on 2 September 2013.[3] The duo are known for making an impact on the UK underground scene with their music, punch lines and metaphors.[4] As of 23 October 2013, Krept and Konan signed a record deal with Virgin EMI Records.[5]
Biography
2005–10: Formation and career beginnings
In 2005, Krept and Konan met and formed a friendship, they were making music under the same aliases but were also members of the music group/gang 'Gipset' which they were known widely for in South London. In 2009 they became a musical duo and started to take music seriously.[6] Shortly after their formation, in 2010 the duo released their very first mixtape titled Redrum featuring collaborations from London underground rappers Jadajazz, Killa Ki, Fret Deezy, Snap and many more.[7]
2010: Tsunami
In 2010 the rap duo released their second mixtape titled Tsunami featuring several mainstream artists including Ghetts, Giggs, Scorcher and Wretch 32. The mixtape was relatively well received with 2,000 copies sold and an estimate of 60,000 illegal downloads.[8]
2011–present: Young Kingz and commercial breakthrough
In 2011, they released a cover of Jay-Z's and Kanye West's "Otis" which helped them rise to fame. The video reached five million views in its first five days of being uploaded to YouTube. However, with much pressure received from Jay-Z's legal team the video was removed from the duo's profile. Undeterred by the controversy, they released a cover of Drake and Lil Wayne's "The Motto", launched their own clothing line called Play Dirty and early into 2012 were invited to join the British rapper Skepta on his tour in the UK.[8] They appeared on Tinie Tempah's 2011 mixtape Happy Birthday and in 2013 they released their third mixtape Young Kingz, with features from Chip, Tinie Tempah, G FrSH, Giggs, George the Poet, Yungen, Ari, Yana Toma, Fekky, Siah and Anthony Thomas. The album's promotional single "Don't Waste My Time" rose to fame in the grime scene in January 2014, with notable artists such as French Montana, Wretch 32, Chip, G FrSH, Double S, Lady Leshurr, Yungen, Sneakbo MNEK, Dru Blu, Jacob Banks and Dot Rotten all contributing to remixes of the track. Tinie Tempah also freestyled over the beat on Charlie Sloth's Fire in the Booth.
Winning Best UK Newcomer at the 2013 MOBO Awards was one of the big breaks the duo had. With low promotion and no record deal.
Due to Young Kingz's success, Krept and Konan were signed to record label Virgin EMI. They released "Don't Waste My Time" as a single in March 2014 and it entered the UK Singles Chart at number 154.
On 29 June 2014 They attended the BET Awards which was held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, California and received an award for 'Best International Act: UK' by BET International and beating Dizzee Rascal, Laura Mvula, Rita Ora, Ghetts and Tinie Tempah.
On 03 March 2015 Croydon Advertised announced the duo as the 39th most powerful people from the Croydon borough, for their pioneering movement and recent success in the music industry.[9]
Achievements
In 2014 the rap duo broke a world record for 'Highest-Charting UK album by an Unsigned Act'. The pair earned the title with Young Kingz, which entered into the top 20 in the UK Albums Chart.[10] Following on, Krept and Konan have signed a major record deal also won a MOBO (Best Hip-Hop Act 2014)[11] and BET award.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | UK R&B | ||
| The Long Way Home |
|
— | — |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||
Mixtapes
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK [13] |
UK R&B [14] | ||
| Red Rum |
|
— | — |
| Tsunami |
|
— | — |
| Young Kingz |
|
19 | 3 |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [16] |
UK R&B [17] | ||||||||||||
| "Don't Waste My Time" | 2014 | 154 | 31 | Young Kingz | |||||||||
| "Certified" (featuring Rick Ross) |
2015 | - | - | The Long Way Home | |||||||||
| "Freak of the Week" (featuring Jeremih) |
2015 | - | - | The Long Way Home | |||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "They Got It Wrong" (Remix)[18] (Lethal Bizzle featuring Krept and Konan, Kano, Squeeks and Wiley) |
2013 | Non-album singles |
| "Dance on My Own"[19] (M.O featuring Krept and Konan) |
2014 |
Tours
- 2011: Skepta Wedding Bells tour (Supporting act)[20]
- 2012: Devlin tour (Supporting act)[21]
- 2013: Young Kingz show live[22]
- 2014: Tinie Tempah Demonstration tour (Supporting act)[23]
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Official Mixtape Awards | Best Mixtape 2010 | Tsunami | Won |
| 2012 | Best Video 2011 | "Otis remix" | Won | |
| NXG Awards | Best Video | Won | ||
| Breakthrough Act[24] | Themselves | Won | ||
| 2013 | MOBO Awards | Best UK Newcomer | Won | |
| UMA's | Best Album | Young Kingz | Nominated | |
| Best Group | Themselves | Won | ||
| Best Hip Hop Act[25] | Won | |||
| BBC 1Xtra's Mixtape Awards[26] | Best Group | Won | ||
| Best Mixtape | "Young Kingz" | Won | ||
| 2014 | Guinness World Records | 'Highest-Charting UK album by an Unsigned Act' | Won | |
| BET Awards 2014 | Best International Act: UK | Themselves | Won | |
| MOBO Awards | Best hip-hop act | Won | ||
| Best male act | Nominated | |||
| Best song | "Don't waste my time" | Nominated | ||
| Best album | "Young Kingz" | Nominated | ||
| GRM Best of 2014[27] | Lyricist of the year | Themselves | Won | |
| Best Video | "Don't waste my time" | Won | ||
| 2015 | MTV Brand New[28] | Best Newcomer | 'MTV Brand New Winners 2015' | Won |
References
- ^ a b http://www.last.fm/music/Krept+&+Konan
- ^ Phillips, Noel. "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: KREPT AND KONAN ON REMAINING RELEVANT AND WRITING A GOOD DISS website". Retrieved 27 June 2014.
- ^ Pharaoh, Samson. "Congratulations Pour in As Krept And Konan Mixtape Enters Official UK Album Charts Top 20". Retrieved 12 January 2014.
- ^ Daily, Grime. "BIOGRAPHY". Retrieved 25 January 2014.
- ^ Etaghene, Valentina. "Congratulations To Krept and Konan Winners of 'Best Newcomer' For Signing A Record Deal With Virgin EMI website". Retrieved 12 January 2014.
- ^ Hill, Dexter. "Biography website". Retrieved 12 January 2014.
- ^ Recordshop, UK. "Krept & Konan – Redrum Volume 1 website". Retrieved 24 January 2014.
- ^ a b Collins, Hattie. "Krept and Konan: the secrets of Young Kingz success website". Retrieved 12 January 2014.
- ^ "CROYDON POWER LIST 2015: The 40 most influential people in Croydon (40-31) website". Retrieved 14 March 2015.
- ^ Alexander, Samuel. = 11 February 2014 "KREPT & KONAN BREAK WORLD RECORD!".
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help) - ^ "Krept and Konan Win Best Hip Hop Act at MOBO Awards 2014". What's Good?. 22 October 2014.
- ^ "The Long Way Home by Krept and Konan". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
{{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in|work=at position 1 (help) - ^ "Krept & Konan" (select "Albums" tab). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
- ^ "2013 Top 40 R&B Albums Archive – 14th September 2013". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
- ^ "Young Kingz by Krept and Konan". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
{{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in|work=at position 1 (help) - ^ Zywietz, Tobias. "Chart Log UK: New Entries Update – 5.04.2014 (wk13)". zobbel.de. Tobias Zywietz. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|work=(help) - ^ "2014 Top 40 R&B Singles Archive – 5th April 2014". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
- ^ "They Got It Wrong (feat. Krept & Konan, Kano, Squeeks, Wiley) – Single by Lethal Bizzle". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
{{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in|work=at position 1 (help) - ^ "Dance On My Own (feat. Krept & Konan) – Single by M.O". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
{{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in|work=at position 1 (help) - ^ Derebeyli, Melek. "Skepta 'The Wedding Bells' Tour – Review website". Retrieved 12 January 2014.
- ^ Blaquiere, Simon. "Krept and Konan to tour with Devlin in November". Retrieved 12 January 2014.
- ^ Khan, Maz. "REVIEW: KREPT & KONAN LIVE IN LONDON website". Retrieved 12 January 2014.
- ^ "Krept & Konan Set To Join Tinie Tempah For UK 's Demonstration Tour [@Kreptplaydirty @Konanplaydirty]". .bluereignmg. 12 March 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
- ^ Online, NXG. "NXG Awards 2012 Winners website". Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- ^ Bailey, Elise. "The spittin' duo Krept & Konan nominated for 3 UMA's!". Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ Semtex, DJ. "Semtex Presents 1Xtra's Mixtape Awards 2013 website". Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- ^ Simionescu-Marin, Caroline. "WINNERS LIST REVEALED! #GRMBestOf2014". Retrieved 1 January 2015.
- ^ UK-Marin, MTV. "Krept & Konan Crowned MTV Brand New For 2015 Winners!". Retrieved 2 February 2015.