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

TL;DR

  • Krept's journey from challenging early years to becoming a successful rapper and entrepreneur spanning multiple industries
  • The founding and scaling of Nala's Baby into a £17.5 million baby care business and the lessons learned from building it
  • How hip-hop culture influences spending habits and consumer behavior, and Krept's perspective on money and wealth
  • Dealing with trauma, mental health challenges, and personal losses including the death of his collaborator Cadet
  • The impact of violence in the entertainment industry and a backstage attack that affected Krept's life
  • How a near-death experience with his friend Nash became a turning point that shifted Krept's priorities and perspective

Key Moments

3:11

Early years and formative experiences

10:32

How life could have gone a different way

19:51

Nash and the turning point experience

1:06:00

Nala's Baby business journey and lessons learned

1:27:17

Cadet's death and its impact

Episode Recap

In this compelling episode of The Diary of a CEO, Steven Bartlett sits down with Krept, the renowned rapper and entrepreneur who has built empires across music, television, and business. The conversation begins by exploring Krept's formative years and the circumstances that shaped his journey, before delving into how his life could have taken dramatically different paths. Throughout the discussion, Krept opens up about his mental health struggles and the profound impact of pivotal moments that changed his trajectory. One particularly transformative event involves Nash, a close friend whose near-death experience became a crucial turning point in Krept's life. The rapper discusses the emotional weight of discovering Nash's condition and how this experience fundamentally altered his perspective on life and priorities. Krept reflects on his relationship with money and how his mindset around wealth has evolved over time. He provides valuable insights into how hip-hop culture perpetuates a narrative around spending and consumption, creating pressure on artists and fans alike to display wealth materially. Despite these cultural pressures, Krept has managed to build sustainable, legitimate businesses that generate real value. The centerpiece of his entrepreneurial success is Nala's Baby, a baby care company that has grown to an impressive £17.5 million valuation. Krept shares the lessons he has learned from building this business from the ground up, discussing the challenges, victories, and insights gained from scaling a consumer brand in the competitive baby care market. The conversation also addresses darker moments in Krept's life, including a traumatic incident where he was attacked backstage. This physical violence represents the dangers that exist within the entertainment industry and hip-hop culture specifically. Additionally, Krept discusses the death of Cadet, another loss that has deeply affected him and the broader UK rap community. These experiences with violence and loss have shaped Krept's outlook on life, success, and what truly matters. Throughout the episode, Steven Bartlett asks probing questions that encourage Krept to reflect on his emotional state and how he has processed these significant life events. The conversation balances the entrepreneurial success story with honest discussions about mental health, grief, and the human cost of navigating both the music industry and the business world. By the end of the episode, listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of Krept not just as a successful businessman and artist, but as a person who has overcome substantial challenges to build meaningful impact in multiple areas of his life.

Notable Quotes

That moment with Nash changed everything for me and made me realize what actually matters in life

Hip-hop culture has taught people that success means spending money, but real wealth is built differently

Building Nala's Baby forced me to think like a businessman, not just an artist

The backstage attack was a wake-up call about the violence that exists in our industry

Losing Cadet showed me how fragile life is and how we need to support each other better

Products Mentioned