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Helping to put Derby on the map; UK rap riser K1 is ready to shake up the music industry!

Born and raised in the East Midlands city of Derby, K1 has already made quite the impression on the music industry. Journeying back to his viral hit ‘Broken Hearted Crook’ back in October of 2021, which has since gained over 8 million streams and views combined. The UK rap riser has gained a growing following on both TikTok (35k+) and Instagram (29k+) not to mention his 900,000+ monthly listeners on Spotify, that are eager to hear what’s next from the artist.

Standing as one of the many up-and-coming artists that are holding it down for the UK’s regional talent outside of the capital, K1 grew up in a small city named Derby nestled in the East Midlands. “Growing up in Derby was alright. The area I grew up in was in between the rough area and the nice area. I used to play a lot of football and sing a lot – I’ve been quite musical from day one”, K1 explained, “The only problem with Derby when I was growing up was not everyone was on the same length with music in comparison to somewhere like London. Derby was a bit shy of that!”.
In between playing football with his friends and competing in the school talent shows as a singer, K1 grew up on an assortment of genres, “I listened to a lot of Eminem and N Dubz growing up! *laughs* I listen to quite a lot of genres; Lo-Fi, Rap, Alternative, and Indie music, it’s never been just one sound” he said. Although admitting that his vocals weren’t always the strongest at school, music has always been one of K1’s first interests…little did he know that in the years to follow it would change his life.

Back in 2018 he would visit his friend’s house who had a small studio set-up that they would play around with; switching the vocals for bars, K1 made a freestyle to Headie One’s track ‘Both’ that received further encouragement from his friends to start writing raps instead. “I sacked the singing off and started rapping about everything. I started getting into Drill, but I think that’s because that was what was popping at the time. I thought to myself am I really a Drill artist like that? Is that what I really want to talk about? My whole persona just changed from then. I wanted to talk about things that were relevant to me as opposed to the streets; I was getting sick of hearing that!”, K1 explained.

Dropping his debut single back in 2021 named ‘Demon’ he followed through with a string of singles that aligned with Drill. However, after a moment of reflection and realising that this wasn’t a true representation of his artistry he released ‘Broken Hearted Crook’ as a freestyle on TikTok and it flew! Gaining positive feedback from people all over the world who could relate to the track he released it as an official single, “I didn’t even know how to use TikTok – I wasn’t even going to drop the track! *laughs* It was just a freestyle, and it got a mad reaction. Prior to that song I had already written a lot of songs like that so for it to get that reaction I thought this must be my way to get recognition in music properly.”

Sustaining the buzz around his name he swiftly followed through with ‘Why You Gotta Lie’. Having the same effect as his previous single, ‘Why You Gotta Lie’ broadened his fanbase further and created yet another viral moment. With people quick to compare him to UK hit-maker Central Cee, K1 took it in his stride to steer away from being labelled a “TikTok sample rapper” with his next release and drop something closer to home, “My music can’t be anymore relatable to me; it can frustrate me at times, but I do take it as a compliment because Central Cee is huge and such a good artist. But I am not trying to give off the persona or do the same thing”, he explained. “‘Derby to Moston’ I made before ‘Broken Hearted Crook’ in fact I even made the video for that before I released the track. I was going to drop another song with an Akon sample, but I wanted to drop something that felt real before I get labelled as a TikTok sample rapper. ‘Derby to Moston’ means a lot, it’s a very personal song to me.”

Like any artist who’s a perfectionist with their craft, K1 prefers to go to the studio and record several tracks at a time, “I’ll write a couple of songs before I go to the studio; I don’t tend to write in the studio that much unless I’m going in with a producer and we’ll whip something up from scratch. Normally I like to take my time, do it from home and really put some effort into it. When I get to the studio, I’ll lay them out, I usually do a few songs per session; even if I don’t like all of them, I’ll know at least I’ve made one hit today. I’m a perfectionist!”.

Gearing up for his latest single ‘Different Man from the project “Love Never Dies”, that is set to drop on February 17th, K1 delivers a thought-provoking track that explores a relationship gone south,
“I don’t know how to feel no more
I kick down the door but I still feel raw
Cause I’m fucked right down to the core
But you would be too if you saw what I saw
Pain in my heart that I can’t ignore”

Expressing that music is his source of therapy he unravels a vulnerable side to himself that enables fans to feel resonate with his artistry further. Underpinned with a spacious and acoustic-led beat he seamlessly glosses the angelic sample that instantly leaves you wanting more.
With a string of successful singles behind him, K1 has been working hard to create a body of work to showcase not only his artistry but his versatility too, “I’ve finished my album now which will be coming out next year; a lot of the tracks on there are real rap and lo-fi. I’ve also got tracks that are more melodic and others that incorporate Drill, so I am trying to branch out”, he commented. Only touching the surface of what he’s capable of, the Derby artist is one to watch this year!

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