Krept & Konan

Krept & Konan are a South London road rap duo known for a voluble and poised style that incorporates elements of dancehall and trap. Eschewing the traditional quest for commercial success, they raised their profile through social media and eventually via their own label and clothing line, Play Dirty, before striking a deal with Def Jam and Virgin EMI. They made their commercial breakthrough in 2013 with Young Kingz, an assured mixtape that hit the Top 20 of the U.K. album chart. The Long Way Home (2015) and Revenge Is Sweet (2019), subsequent albums that both reached the Top Ten, yielded a total of three Top 40 singles that included "Freak of the Week," a number nine hit that also went platinum. The Young Kingz II tape (2015) saw the pair return to independence with an emphasis on their enduring chemistry and measured wordplay.Friends since the mid-2000s, native South Londoners Casyo "Krept" Johnson and Karl "Konan" Wilson (the son of Jamaican singer Delroy Wilson) recorded separately for a few years before they became a duo in 2009. It was a 2010 mixtape titled Tsunami that initially turned the heads of a significant number of people, before their cover of Jay-Z and Kanye West's "Otis" racked up millions of YouTube views in less than a week in early 2011. When a gunman burst into Konan's mother's home that summer, injuring her and fatally shooting his stepfather, the duo subsequently dealt with the incident in the autobiographical "My Story." Later that year, the Tottenham-born grime artist Skepta invited them to open for him in Glasgow. Although this was effectively Krept & Konan's first gig, it cemented a relationship between the three, and Skepta continued to promote their music online, as did such luminaries of the U.K. scene as Wretch 32 and Professor Green. Momentum was built by way of holding off the official release of any further material until the September 2013 mixtape Young Kingz surfaced. The album managed to reach the U.K. Top 20 with an almost nonexistent marketing budget, and featured appearances from artists such as Giggs, Chip, and Tinie Tempah. A year later, the group signed a joint deal with Def Jam and Virgin EMI, and released The Long Way Home in 2015. The album landed at number two on the U.K. chart and contained the number nine pop hit "Freak of the Week," featuring Jeremih, along with tracks assisted by Ed Sheeran, Rick Ross, and Wiz Khalifa. The duo returned in 2017 with two simultaneously released mixtapes. 7 Days was the more club oriented of the two, and featured guest spots from Skepta and Stormzy. 7 Nights had more of an R&B flavor and featured appearances from Hudson East and Tony Lanez. Revenge Is Sweet, the pair's second album, was almost as successful in 2019, reaching number five with the singles "I Spy" (featuring Headie One and K-Trap) and "G Love" (with Wizkid) both cracking the Top 40. During their ascent, Krept & Konan co-starred in the crime thrillers The Intent and The Intent 2: The Come Up.In the early 2020s, Krept & Konan released a handful of non-album singles and were featured on tracks such as "Self-Obsessed," a Top 40 hit headlined by Da Beatfreakz, and Russ Millions' charting "Pisces." They were also the subject of Krept and Konan: We Are England, a BBC Three documentary on their making of a football song for the UEFA European Championship. In 2025, the duo returned with an independently released sequel to the 2013 tape Young Kingz, Young Kingz II, led by the Oxlade collaboration "Kilimanjaro."
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