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

TL;DR

  • Krept overcame a challenging upbringing in South London and made deliberate choices to avoid a darker path that claimed some of his peers
  • The unexpected death of his collaborator Nash forced Krept to confront mortality and reassess his priorities and values
  • Hip-hop culture heavily promotes consumption and spending, which shaped Krept's relationship with money in his early career
  • Krept built Nala's Baby into a £17.5 million business by identifying a gap in the market for premium baby products and maintaining high quality standards
  • Surviving a backstage attack and losing his friend Cadet to violence taught Krept hard lessons about the dangers in the music industry
  • Success in business requires shifting mindset from artist to entrepreneur and making strategic decisions about brand partnerships and product development

Episode Recap

In this compelling episode, Krept shares his journey from a rough upbringing in South London to becoming a successful rapper, television host, and entrepreneur. He candidly discusses his early years, acknowledging that circumstances could easily have led him down a destructive path like many of his peers. The turning point in Krept's life came when his longtime collaborator and friend Nash died unexpectedly. This tragedy forced him to confront his own mortality and fundamentally shift his perspective on what mattered in life. Rather than pursuing the endless cycle of touring and recording, Krept began thinking about building something lasting and meaningful. He addresses his evolving relationship with money, explaining how hip-hop culture perpetuates a narrative of conspicuous consumption and status through spending. Early in his career, Krept fell into this trap, but eventually recognized that true wealth comes from building assets and creating value. This mindset shift proved crucial when he co-founded Nala's Baby, a premium baby products company. Krept identifies a clear gap in the market where existing brands were either too expensive or lacked quality, and he saw an opportunity to serve parents who wanted premium products at reasonable prices. Through careful product development, strategic partnerships, and maintaining unwavering quality standards, he scaled Nala's Baby to a £17.5 million valuation. The episode also touches on darker moments in Krept's life, including a backstage attack that could have ended tragically and the death of his friend Cadet, a rising young rapper taken by street violence. These experiences reinforced for Krept the fragility of life and the importance of building a legacy beyond music. Throughout the conversation, Krept emphasizes the necessity of transitioning from an artist mentality to an entrepreneurial one, making strategic business decisions, and surrounding himself with the right people. He reflects on how success in business requires different skills than success in music, and how his journey demonstrates that building sustainable enterprises requires discipline, vision, and the willingness to learn from both successes and failures.

Key Moments

Notable Quotes

Everything changed when Nash died. That's when I realized life is short and I needed to build something that lasts.

Hip-hop culture teaches you to spend money to show status, but real wealth is about building assets and creating value.

I saw a gap in the market where parents wanted premium baby products but weren't willing to pay luxury prices for them.

Transitioning from being an artist to being an entrepreneur requires a completely different mindset and skillset.

The streets can take everything from you. Building a legitimate business was my way out of that cycle.

Products Mentioned