Young Kingz - Road To Stardom

‘As far back as the age of 6 I remember me and Fari running around the house singing and pretending to be superstars’ says Zei one half of the duo Young Kingz from London. The duo grew up with music, using their Caribbean and American heritage to retell stories and issues embraced with U.K flows and concepts. They have had the pleasure of working with artist such as Lethal B, Double S and Timbar and are now in the process of releasing their forthcoming EP 'Road to Stardom' which will be available by November.

I thought I’d catch up with Young Kingz to find out their influences, meanings behind their alias’ and plans for the future.

‘We began to take music more seriously in 2008 and 2009 when we saw the amount of hits on our videos and songs as well as promising feedback from our mixtape. Says Zei, who explains how they made the transmission from music being hobby and now their career. He continues ‘it was these kinds of early accomplishments that proved we had the talent and the drive to reach new heights as artists. Since then me and my brother have undertook college & projects to expand our knowledge on music business & technology understanding of the industry.

‘A lot of our influence came from our father, who was also a musician and our role model. Naturally growing up with music side by side helped us to develop our love for entertainment and media. As far back as the age of 6 I remember me and Fari running around the house singing and pretending to be superstars’

‘Young Kingz was originally a group of 7 people, but no one else in the group was taking music as seriously as us. The work load got heavier and people started to drop out. Our music comes at a great cost at the moment. We make a lot of tunes with varied narrative and lyrics, currently the police our trying to take our away our right to perform because certain songs tell a harsh story of the world in the perspective of the urban subculture’.

‘Young Kingz is not only a music group it is a brand and lifestyle so we appeal to the urban scene specifically, as we take inspiration from our experiences. Anyone that falls under the category of the urban scene can relate to the concept of our lyrics. More broadly we appeal to people who enjoy quality Hip-Hop and R&B’.

Some sacrifices they've made include time and money, Fari explains. ‘Time is a precious resource to us, as we all know; the window of opportunity doesn’t stay open forever. So a lot of social luxuries get missed like parties and chilling out with friends. We take our music very seriously were always on time and stick to our word, after all this is music industry; you’re not going to go far if you cannot stick to the basics'.

'Our dad always told us we were Young Kingz throughout our childhood, so it stuck and we ran with it. All our fans have a Young king or queen inside them'. They go on to explain their alias’s individually.

Fari, symbolises our family as well as leadership. It being our last names & name of Haile Selassie Fari the last king.  Zei is pronounced Zee, as a kid a used to play the Saz and was pretty good, fom there, I developed the nick name ‘Saz Master’. The Saz is a musical instrument with Mediterranean origin in string family, with a pear-shaped body and a long neck. As I got older I got rid of the first 2 letters and was know by ‘Z’, the last letter of the alphabet, there have been letters before this but none after.

‘We’ve worked with a range of artists such as Timbar, Kraze, Lethal B, Hardpalm Dun, YoungStarz and Double S - Of Marvel Boys - we don’t discriminate on the basis of recognition but talent. So we have worked with some names that may not ring a bell. The tune we did Double S is still being debated when to drop and the date for our shoot with Lethal B is approaching’.

‘On a larger scale we are working towards releasing a pre-album 'Road to Stardom' which is a more censored and mass market piece, this should be available from November. Just a couple days ago we got the ball rolling on creating/directing a new single concerning the London riots. We have managed to get Nims Obunge behind us with this project and it’s looking promising. Those are the main releases; in the meantime we have about 6 videos ready to drop for our fans that will be out on the internet to progress our buzz’.

When asked their views on the current industry this is what they had to say. ‘I think music industry is in a tough state because of how the record labels and DJ's are operating. Instead of playing music based on talent they are basing it on how much buzz they got already’, says Zei.

‘It is a money thing now days, they don't want to spend as much money branding & promoting anymore. It’s more about how much money could be saved and made than making good music & selling it. With that said it seems like every week someone is blowing up, so that can only be a good thing for the U.K music. I think 'Ed Sheeran' is a very underrated artist his tunes are deep and banging! He’s a talented fella’... he’s next to go global’, says Fari.

Artist that they are inspired by include Busta Rhymes, Drake, Lil Wayne, Sizzla, Freeway and Ludacris. They explain ‘purely on the basis of natural talent, intelligence, wordplay, flow and lyrical insight. Listening to music of all these different genres and origins has definitely played a part in growing our sound'.

‘We are able to put together hooks, flows and concepts that combine U.K life with Jamaican and American influences, which makes us unique and gives us a diverse sound. Producers that inspire Zei to make beats are Dr Dre and Mannie Fresh! They’re the best in the game, with talent that seems to be unrestricted by ability’.

'We’re just going to keep doing us that means work & more work. We are always trying to improve as artists and true entertainers, so we looking to push the boundaries of music. Look out for ‘Road to Stardom’ the EP and stay up to date with all our videos dropping subscribe Youtube and follow us on Twitter. 

Castro - Broken Promises

Like many artists, his career started as a hobby where he had lyric battles amongst his peers in the school playgrounds. But, after seeing his brother climb to success as a member of the infamous So Solid Crew, he began to pursue his music career more professionally. Castro is a musician from London who is due to release his EP Broken Promises in October. He also plans to release a snap back clothing line in the same month along with a follow up album in the New Year.

I thought I’d catch up with Castro to find out his sacrifices, what his music represents as well as what he’s learnt about the industry so far.

I'm a musician, I rap, sing and I also song-write for a lot of artists. My passion started when in school, when I was 14, I would rap battle in the playground with other kids in my school and from me seeing the success of my older brother Kaish's - a member of the urban collective So Solid Crew - ‘I knew that music was what I wanted to do’.


As a solo artist my music represents me as a person. I’m hold back anything; I talk about what is relevant in my life at that moment in time. I've sacrifices such as time, money and my social life for my music in order for it to flourish in the way that I want it to. Fortunately, my close friends are also involved with my music so I haven't lost any close friendships, but relationships are hard, because obviously sometimes you loose out on spending time with a partner, so that's definitely a complicated area.

I have no regrets on anything I've done during my life, even if situations are real bad, they have groomed me into the man I am now so I can't really complain. Life is a school and everyday is a new lesson. I’ve worked with a lot of people in the UK industry such as Double S, So Solid Crew, Mutya Buena, Fundemental, Swiss, Frixtion, Fumin, Stylah, Junior Brat, JD aka Dready and K Koke, but there’re a lot more in the pipeline.


I’ve learnt to keep your circle very close but to still have an open mind to mingle and network with everybody you can. There’re a lot of shady and snakey people in this industry that haven't got you're best intentions at heart so I've learnt how to work with them but distance myself enough not to be effected in a bad way. It has also taught me to be a great business man and to make good decisions.

He feels a good artist should be consistent in terms of material and output. Have passion for what they create, be creativity with ideas and structures which will allow you to appeal to a wider audience as well as maintain persistence despite the setback you may face in the industry or any industry in general. 

Castro is currently working on his second EP, which should be out in October entitled Broken Promises, which he says is some of the most real and heartfelt music he’s ever done. He’ll also be releasing a snap back line in October with a lot more designs and garments yet to come in the future. His album should also be out in January.

Until then you can continue to follow him via his Official Website, Facebook and Twitter. 

Stefan Paul - Sketch Designs

Stefan Paul is an artist from East London, mostly known for his portraits designs and most recently as tattooist and interior designer. You could say his talent runs in the family, as his brother Shawn Paul, who is also his business partner, started the Sketch Designs company back in 2005, which is now a company they both own and have been running ever since . Their work has caught the eye of many mainstream musicians, such as Ironik, Dizzee Rascal and Skepta.

I thought I'd catch up with Stefan Paul himself to find out where it all started. 

'The ability to draw can be used for various things. That's why I've gone into tattooing and designing' says Stefan. 'Sketch Designs was introduced to me by my older brother and partner who is as skilled as I am, but with more experience. He brought me into Sketch Designs when he realised my skill level really improved.

He's noticed that 'a lot of portrait artist in particular just stick to portraits' so by expanding his craft to include tattooing and interior design he feels this is what makes him different. He says 'my audience is everyone, literally everyone. Young and old, poor and rich, Black, White or Asian. You name it. By drawing anything on their request, I appeal to them.

'So far he has managed to catch the eyes of musicians within the UK music scene such as that Skepta, JME, Frisco, Ironik, Dizzee Rascal, Double S and many more. But one day he would ultimately love to design ‘for the queen’. He says ‘If my passion was not art, it would have definitely been football. I was pretty good before I was diagnosed with asthma. But everything happens for a reason I guess.’

Right now we are working on our gallery; we have had it for a while but were just waiting to launch the website first before we begin to invite people over. So look out for your invite later this year. I am on Facebook, Twitter and Myspace non stop networking as much as I can, I also give out business cards every day and as I said our website is currently in its finishing stages, so you can definitely expect a lot more from us.

For more of Sketch Design, you can now contact them via Facebook , Twitter and Myspace and as mentioned above keep your eyes peeled for the opening of their fourth coming website and gallery later this year. 

Doller Da Dustman - Fizzy Boy

Doller Da Dustman is a musician from Edmonton, North London. In his younger year, Doller featured on prominent Grime Radio stations such as Axe FM, Rinse FM and Heat FM where he began to build his MC career. He was a regularly lyricist with peers during school but as he got older he decided to take his music more seriously and turn it into a profession. Since then he has managed to release 8 independent mixtapes, which include ‘I Ainte Come To Beg Friend’ and ‘Go Getterish E.P’. His forthcoming projects include his promo ‘Art of Rhyming’ and debut album ‘Fizzy Boy’. I thought I’d catch up with Doller himself to find out about his musical journey and his views of the current music scene.


When did your music career start and what difficulties have you faced if any?

From the start of time i always did music for leisure growi

ng up in Edmonton, it was either that or football. year by year it got

more serious for me, as a crew we had to make a great leap from North London to get heard, as a solo artist I had to get use to being rejected or certain things getting rejected, an people had to get use to the way I do things!

What makes you different from other musicians?

My versatility, everyone says that! But I suppose my cha

racter, skills, and hunger.

What musicians have you worked with in the past and who would be your ideal collaboration?

I’ve worked every important artist such as Ghetto, Z

Dot, Scorcher, Nocturnal, Cold Blooded, Lauren Mason, G Tank, Maxsta, Double S, Chipmunk, the list is endless. My ideal collaboration would be with Avery Storm, John Legend, Vybz Kartel.


What messages do convey through your music?

I try and focus on the finish line in my music, up lifting, the end goal, success, achievement, striving.

How has the emergence of social network sites such as twitter and Facebook affected your career?

For technology I think it’s a blessing for me, Facebook has been great for me, giving normal people easy excess to me! Me and you linked due to Facebook. Proofs in the pudding.

What mediums do you use to publicise yourself as an artist?

I try an use every way possible, that I feel will benefit me.

What can we expect from you in the future?

Classic albums. Films. Breathe taking videos.

Check out Doller new video ‘Like a Queen’ on Youtube. You can also contact him via his Facebook ‘Doller Da Dustman’