We sat down with Kish! to talk about his perspective on the UK rap scene, running Paradoujin, and how to stay in your own lane. Dive in below!
Words: Poppy Warren (poppy__warren)
Photography: Poppy Warren (poppy__warren)
Alternative rap and Kish Fantastic! go hand in hand. If you haven’t heard his name, then you’ve been living under a rock. With his work on Soundcloud dating back to 2017, Kish! has pioneered a scene that now sits as a cornerstone of underground British music. Boasting over 40,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and more than 2,000,000 streams on his top track, ‘Maddie’ ft Deema, there’s no doubt his fans love him too. Possessing a clever pen game, he executes all verses with humour and intelligence. Unfazed by the myriad of genres people rap over nowadays, Kish! Tackles any sound with a natural dexterity. From hip-hop to plugg and drill or Jersey, there’s never a dull moment on his tracks. More than a rapper, Kish!’s other creative endeavours include photography, streaming and running his own music platform, Paradoujin, as well as the ‘Haters Podcast’ on Youtube.
In the hope of new releases soon, Kish! sat down with us to give his take on the scene, running Paradoujin, and how to stay in your own lane. Dive in below!
Who was the last artist you were listening to?
Brent Fayiaz.
Who is Kish Fantastic!?
Just some dude. He's a rapper. He’s kind of cool I guess. He makes decent music. Actually no, he makes amazing music.
What is your favourite type of music to make?
Plugg music. I’m stuck in 2016 and I will not leave.
You’ve said previously that you were going through a phase of hating music, is that still the case?
Oh yeah, it’s the same and it’s not going to change. It's fucking ridiculous. The industry is designed to fuck you over. It’s all a popularity contest. Music is like a comic book bro, everything is as big and as egotistical as that. You can be friends with people one minute and then not be friends with someone the next for reasons you might never understand. How do I exist in a space where I’m not happy? And I guess the answer is to create your own space. I’m actively working on it.
What’s the motivation behind your platform Paradoujin?
People don’t realise that the biggest problem with music is journalism. When we first started there weren’t many low-level blogs that were doing it like we were. For me, it's about representing people. There are a lot of people with some really amazing work that get no shine because the UK doesn’t have a great journalism network unless it's the bigger publications like Boiler Room. It wasn’t originally a blog, it was originally a spare page for me and my friends to promote ourselves. I realised that once I started doing the blog that everything is a business. I made it with the idea that nobody is talking about these people, let's make sure they do.
Do you think that making music feels like a business for you?
I do it for me. I’ve never been Mr egotistical. I’ve got my own ego obviously but I’ve never really cared about the same things that people care about. I have to remember there’s a fine line between being relatable to people and people seeing you on the same level as them. By that I don’t mean being a level above anybody, but rather, as a rapper I have to sell myself as a shiny package. I’m accessible but I’ve learnt where to take that accessibility. There are boundaries and I’ve had a lot of boundaries crossed with certain things.
What was the idea behind ‘Hater’s Podcast’?
There’s not a space on YouTube where you can find the likes of Reckz'Capo talking to somebody. There should be somewhere where all fans of the scene can go and watch the artists. Do you how much has happened in the past 5 years where I’ve thought, ‘how stupid am I for not documenting that?’ I want everyone’s perspective on the scene. But if you’re not consistent with it, it doesn’t matter how good the idea is. You’ve got to keep the ball rolling.
Do you ever feel pressured to be a certain way or put out certain sounds?
I was going to say no, but yeah I’m not going to lie — like bare. It’s annoying that I’ve had to rejig myself and be back in my 21-year-old headspace. It’s jarring with TikTok and all this stuff; you can’t help but be in your head sometimes. I follow way too many artists and A&Rs. Everyone’s got an opinion on something and it’s hard not to take it in. That’s why I stay in my bubble. People don’t realise there’s just as much beauty in a really amazingly edited, well-shot home video as a professional video with a big budget but with all the pressure of the industry sometimes you forget that. Sometimes I trip myself into feeling I have to stretch the budget out, but I have to just be me.
Do you feel you try to make sounds that are popular at the time?
I’m still making Plugg music. Some people say Plugg is dead but it’s like, just make music, bro! I did with Jersey and Detroit beats because I listen to a lot of underground American stuff; I usually see what’s going to translate. I did that with ‘Whack Pumper’ in August 2021 and at that time there were two British people that were on a Detroit-type beat. It was a remix of a pretty well-known Detroit song which I don’t think a lot of people realise. The same goes with Jersey, I made a point of jumping on there before it became a whole thing.
Is there any subject you won’t touch on when writing?
Yeah, my personal life. It's funny because the songs that people like the most from me are the more personal ones, so I’m digging my own grave here. People take information and twist it and internalise it in their own way which is natural, it’s what people do; we’re human beings. But when you realise you’re someone in the public, you realise a lot comes with that. Maybe I’ll get to the stage one day where I’ll learn how to balance it but personally, there are some aspects of my personal life that you’re never going to know about. What people don’t realise is they hear a lot of personal elements in my music anyway — it's just dotted around and if you spot it, you spot it. There’s a whole trap tune that I dropped a long time ago and I’m literally talking about suicidal stuff and not being very happy with my life but no one catches that. Sometimes I don't think people are truly listening. Even on ‘I Feel Fantastic’, there are so many personal messages.
Would you consider yourself a lyricist?
What people don’t recognise is everything is packaged how it's supposed to be packaged. For me, I love lyrics, but then I love a Famous Dex song where all he says is ‘I just popped a xan, 50 thousand in Japan.’ If you package it right, I’m going to like it. Being smart and being a lyricist is about conveying yourself onto a track. This is why I was adamant that Playboi Carti was an amazing artist when he first came out because it's about knowing how to apply the lingo and the sauce on a track together. If you want to rap about money and bitches then just make sure I believe you and it’s done well.
What does success mean to you?
Being happy. Doing whatever you want to do.
Finally, is there anything you want me to ask you?
What’s the greatest anime of all time?
What’s the greatest anime of all time?
Hunter x fucking Hunter bro, that’s it.
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