Krept & Konan reveal why they never considered rejecting the Queen’s Honours

Krept & Konan ‘hadn’t adjacent thought’ to cull the Queen’s Honours erstwhile they received a British Empire Medal (BEM).

The rap duo — made up of Casyo Valentine ‘Krept’ Johnson and Karl Dominic ‘Konan’ Wilson – were recognised successful 2020 for their extended activism.

They’ve worked hard for their communities, from founding a charity to assistance kids disconnected the streets to opening a caller supermarket, Saveways, tailored to the needs of Black, Asian and taste communities.

Not to notation the clip they spoke successful the Houses of Parliament against the criminalisation of drill music, a subgenre of British rap known for convulsive lyrics.

Casyo and Karl, some 33, person spent astir of their euphony careers with an oculus connected the social-political clime truthful immoderate were amazed erstwhile they did not cull the BEM.

‘We hadn’t adjacent thought astir it,’ Konan told the Independent. ‘It conscionable felt similar idiosyncratic paying designation to our hard work.

Their aboriginal collaborator George the Poet, 34, had antecedently rejected akin awards successful protestation of the British empire.

He continued: ‘It’s thing we tin amusement our kids. George the Poet is justified successful their reasons, but for america we’re conscionable trying to get arsenic overmuch flowers arsenic we tin portion we’re here.’

George was offered an MBE — Member of the Order of the British Empire — which helium addressed connected his BBC Sounds bid Have You Heard George’s Podcast?

In 2019, helium shared: ‘I’d similar to apologise to the person who recommended maine connected my assurance that I’d accept, I didn’t cognize I would consciousness this way.

‘I spot myself arsenic student, admirer and person of Britain, however, the assemblage trauma inflicted connected the children of Africa, entrenched crossed our geo-political and macro-economic realities, prevents maine from accepting the rubric Member of the British Empire.’

He asked that Britain instrumentality ‘institutional measures’ to face the ‘intergenerational disruption’ brought by colonialism and the Empire.

‘I person nary contented with different achromatic radical who person embraced this title, I promote assortment of thought crossed our nine and wrong my community,’ the spoken connection creator added.

‘I promote aboriginal generations to question the applicable accusation to marque an informed decision. What bash the words British Empire mean to you? I emotion this state but I bash truthful with transparency.’

George worked with Krept & Konan and provided the intro and outro for their archetypal mixtape, Young Kingz.

Young Kingz dropped successful 2013 and broke records arsenic the highest-charting UK merchandise by an unsigned act.

They past cemented their occurrence with the apical 10 way Freak of the Week, from their debut medium The Long Way Home, which besides peaked astatine fig two.

Their marque caller mixtape Young Kingz II is simply a long-awaited follow-up to this archetypal release, though George has not returned.

Music is by nary means taking a backmost spot arsenic their activism continues to ramp up though arsenic they anticipation Saveways tin go a collaborative space.

‘We person this 1 store now,’ Krept antecedently told Metro. ‘But the purpose is to person aggregate stores and beryllium capable to acceptable this up successful antithetic communities, and who knows, we mightiness beryllium capable to get different artists oregon musicians oregon radical from different communities to put oregon acceptable up their ain possibly if we franchise 1 day.

‘We privation this to beryllium a marque and a spot that everybody conscionable recognises.’

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