Krept: From Rapper To Building A £17.5 Million Baby Business! | E164
- Incident at BBC Event: Rapper Cadet (Blaine Johnson) was attacked backstage at a BBC live music event; he lost his chain and was stabbed with knives.
- Severity of Injury: An ambulance stated that had the wound been millimeters deeper, it would have severed his leg's artery, altering the outcome to a fatality.
- Cadet's Identity: Cadet is the cousin of guest Creep, and they grew up together as family before drifting and reconciling during his music career.
- Cadet's Trajectory: Before his death, Cadet was on the verge of a major breakthrough with a platinum-selling independent track; Creep advised him to remain independent to maximize earnings rather than signing for an immediate £100k–£150k offer.
- Cause of Death: Cadet died in a car accident on a country road while traveling to a show; a drunk driver hit the taxi he was in, causing a head-on collision that killed him.
- Timing of Deaths: Cadet died just days after Creep's best friend, Nash (who managed their restaurant "Crepes and Cones"), committed suicide; both losses occurred within a 12-month period.
- Family Trauma: Creep's uncle (Cadet's father) was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor around the same time, with doctors estimating only a few months to live, though he survived an extra few years.
- Last Conversation: Cadet's final words to Creep were a declaration of love and a promise to give him Gucci socks for his upcoming birthday; Creep received this message while packing in Dubai, unaware of the impending tragedy.
- Decision Point (Violence vs. Music): Following the attack on Cadet's stepfather and the shooting of his mother, Creep and his group (Conan and Cadet) decided against retaliation in a car, choosing instead to focus entirely on their music to escape their environment.
- Career Turning Point: The group released a viral cover of Jay-Z and Kanye West's "Otis" immediately after the attacks on Cadet's family; this led to Skepta inviting them on tour, which paid them per show and validated their career.
- Record Achievement: Their independent mixtape Young Kings achieved a Guinness World Record for the highest-charting independent album (breaking into the top 20) prior to the dominance of streaming.
- Hit Single Strategy: Creep's group released "Don't Waste My Time" after Skepta advised them to ignore radio/label expectations and create authentic music; the song became an entrance theme for the movie Creed.
- Expansion into Retail: Leveraging their music fame, the group launched "Crepes and Cones," a restaurant that faced severe operational challenges, including theft, untrustworthy builders, and staff emotional volatility.
- Launch During Grief: The restaurant launched one week after Nash's suicide; Creep worked the floor personally, cleaning toilets and managing operations while grieving, resulting in a massive queue despite the lack of preparation for a new business owner.
- Business Lesson on Trust: The "Crepes and Cones" experience transformed Creep from a trusting individual into a "monster" who interrogates every cost and vendor, having lost triple the necessary budget to scams and middlemen.
- Restaurant Exit: Due to the mental toll of managing customer emotions and the additional stress of the COVID-19 pandemic, Creep decided to close the restaurant despite its financial success.
- New Venture Launch: Creep co-founded "Nala's Baby," a natural baby skincare and haircare line named after his daughter, Nala.
- Market Gap Identification: The brand was conceived after Creep and his partner's daughter (Sasha) used a product-rating app ("Think Dirty") and found no zero-rated (perfectly clean) baby products available in UK high-street retailers.
- Product Standards: The formula had to be 100% naturally derived, vegan, cruelty-free, alcohol-free, tear-free, and suitable for eczema, though "100% natural" was technically adjusted to "most naturally derived" to ensure shelf stability.
- Company Valuation: Nala's Baby is currently valued at £17.5 million based on orders from Boots retailers alone, excluding direct-to-consumer sales.
- Sales Velocity: The product sold out across all channels within a week and a half of launch; the initial stock order (meant to last three months) was exhausted in that time, leading to an immediate second production cycle.
- Retail Partnership: The brand secured listings in 400 Boots stores before its public announcement; a "Dragon's Den" investor initially offered to buy the company for a massive sum but was rejected to maintain independence.
- Financial Literacy Gap: Creep identifies a systemic lack of financial education in schools regarding credit scores, overdrafts, and tax relief mechanisms like EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) and SEIS (Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme).
- Lifestyle Inflation Warning: Creep advises young artists to maintain their current lifestyle upon receiving wealth to avoid the "silent killer" of recurring bills and maintenance costs associated with upgraded cars and homes.
- Cultural Pressure: He acknowledges that hip-hop culture encourages material signaling (chains, watches) as a way to validate success and overcome past insecurities, making it difficult to persuade new artists to invest long-term.
- Advice on Hiring: Creep emphasizes that the most critical business decision is hiring the best talent to fill blind spots, urging entrepreneurs not to be intimidated by working with people more experienced than themselves.
- Mental Health & Numbing: Creep admits to using work as a distraction to avoid processing grief, resulting in a "numb" state where he dismisses negative emotions and potential stressors to protect himself.
- Grief Processing: He has not yet undergone therapy to process the cumulative trauma of losing Nash, Cadet, and his uncle, fearing that sitting with the emotions might be too overwhelming.
- Philosophy on Discomfort: Creep subscribes to the idea that one should "always feel uncomfortable" or feel like they shouldn't be in a room, identifying that discomfort as the necessary "growth room."
- Closing Reflection: Creep resolved a past rocky relationship with Cadet before his death, learning that conflicts with family must be resolved immediately rather than postponed to avoid future regret.