Kairo Keyz has taken the long way around. The Croydon rapper has been renowned in UK rap circles for years, and has already seen tracks like “Gang”, “Went Up” and “Shen Yeng” blow up online and garner huge streaming figures. But due to his low profile and determination to craft a fresh, unique sound that’s fully his own, he’s delayed the release of his debut EP until now.
Titled New Jazz, the project presents a cohesive musical blueprint built on US trap foundations, with chunky 808s and light, meandering synths, cut through with stinging south London storytelling. Tight, trappy hi-hat and clap sequences speak to Chief Keef’s influence, and there are parallels with both JME’s early-00s Nokia-produced grime instrumentals and the summery, synth-based sound pushed by Novelist on tapes like Inferno and Quantum Leap. Producers 808Melo (who pioneered the sliding 808 sound synonymous with UK drill and its global offshoots), Saldado, Tweeko and Young Chencs all aligned on this coherent sound, despite Kairo having no conversations with them about his style. “That’s how I know my thing has made such an impact: every studio I go into, the beats are ready-made,” he explains.
The Croydon rapper started making music as a teenager with his friend Lynch, downloading YouTube beats onto a Mac (a present from Kairo’s dad) and recording on Logic. Progress was steady but slow: it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that he could afford to work with producers, after he got “a bit of a buzz”. Now, cultivating a fresh ‘New Jazz’ sound he summarises as ”energetic and bouncy”, he’s leaning on the fat bass and experimental, video-game-esque melodies of “Gang” as a sonic blueprint, using that focus to guide his track selection.
Meanwhile, tunes like “Pilates” and “Mainstream” (a new freestyle many fans view as a Central Cee send, despite Kairo consistently keeping his lips sealed on that front) don’t make the cut. This pickiness reflects Kairo’s perfectionist values: he struggles to relinquish control over anything he puts out, even editing his own music videos, and insisting “everything has to be perfect.”
To find out more about this sense of intentionality, his winding journey in UK rap, and the process of creating his debut EP, we sat down with the South Croydon rapper for an exclusive chat.
How did you choose which tracks to include on New Jazz?
Kairo Keyz: I wanted to cater to the New Jazz fans, the ‘Gang’ fans: that song’s got nearly 100 million streams, so there are loads of people that wanna hear that. The idea behind this was to give people what got me here first, while also painting more of a story about who I am. I’m sure a lot of people will listen to this EP and understand things about me that they didn’t know before.”
On tracks like “How It Feels”, you show greater vulnerability, rapping about your experiences of homelessness and emotional pain. How important was it to show that side of yourself?
Kairo Keyz: I just feel like it’s the right thing to do as an artist. Situations I was in, my living situation when I was making ‘Gang’, it was a dark time [on ‘How It Feels’ Kairo raps ‘Slept outside / I slept in cars / I slept on floors, but not on me’]. But it’s good now, it’s better that it went like that because that stuff pushed me to go harder. ‘Trenches’ was the first little change, and when things are bad, even just a little change is good enough.
What were the positive and negative impacts of growing up in South Croydon?
Kairo Keyz: The only positive I could say is it made me who I am today. There are loads of negatives, but in my opinion, everything’s perspective: nothing’s negative or positive, it’s about how you see it. The struggles have made me appreciate things more, and I work hard for my own stuff. Growing up, I knew it was bad that we didn’t have money… you can’t get the things you wanna get sometimes, you can’t do the things you wanna do, sometimes you can’t attend certain trips. It’s only when you get to the other side that you realise how bad it was.
In May, you played your first headline show at Oslo, Hackney, and it popped off. What was that experience like for you?
Kairo Keyz: Sometimes, I don’t even think about the fan base, cause you can’t see your fan base every day. Numbers on TikTok are not that realistic to me. But actually seeing people in real life or when they come to the shows, that’s more realistic. I was just happy everyone turned up, that was the main thing for me. Everyone who knows me knows that I don’t think my music is as big as it is, so even that night, I thought people wouldn’t come.
You’ve also spent a lot of time in the US performing and working with other artists. What kind of response do you get out there?
Kairo Keyz: Going to these countries and taking it in is high on the list of things I care about. The sound I have and the way I present myself is a global sound, a global look. They always say in America that they can actually understand what I’m saying. I was never [intentionally] trying to appeal to them, but just before I made ‘Gang’ I started hearing certain things from drill rappers and other artists that had made it, noticing that some will have a tone that’s more like they’re talking, and I thought, ‘maybe I should have a tone where I’m a bit calmer with it’. I did that first with ‘Trenches’: I sat down when I recorded, I was more laid-back, not standing up and shouting, and I did the same thing with ‘Gang’. I was just trying new things and it worked.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
Kairo Keyz: Nino Paid, Seddy Hendrinx… Charli xcx, Lil Baby. Who doesn’t like pop music? Everyone likes it, that’s why it’s got billions of streams! I think that most rappers don’t even listen to pop, they might know the songs, but they’re not gonna download their whole album or tape. I do that, but no other rapper I know would do that.
Since you started rapping, what are the key bits of advice you’ve received from others?
Kairo Keyz: There’s one piece of advice that means a lot to me, that makes it easier for me to stay on track: everyone who’s made it – like made it, made it – didn’t quit. That’s the only thing they have in common. There are all sorts of bad people who made it, and amazing, lovely people who have made it too. There are all different routes, and you should never tell anyone how it’s gonna work. The one thing they have in common is that they didn’t quit. And everyone who didn’t make it quit. From where I started, to have some of the visions I’m having, it seems so far away from reality. It’s easy to think: ‘How am I gonna get a song with a billion streams?’ You have to get a delusional mindset that it’s gonna work. For me, some things seem so far away that I need that delusional mindset.
What are you being delusional about right now?
Kairo Keyz: Someone told me the other day to tell no one your goals, and I’m sticking to that.
Kairo Keyz’s debut EP ‘UK New Jazz’ is out August 18th.
