click the image to stream/download

Well, the show has started... d'you have your ticket?

ONE MAN SHOW: THE ALBUM

It's been 10+ years since I first announced that I was recording for my solo album One Man Show. I first started working on this in mid-2007 after I released an album called Private Project. The original release date was April 2008.

Here we are, 10 years later and it's FINALLY out!

If you haven't had a chance to check out some of my recent vlogs about the album, they're on Facebook and YouTube.

But enough waffle... I just want to let you know you can now download One Man Show for free.

Featuring incredible acts such as 3sixT, Sinima, Lucy Pearson - and even Big Norm!!

GET YOUR FRONT ROW SEAT HERE

Thank you to everybody that has already downloaded it and for all of your kind messages. I wasn't expecting this much love for a 10 year old album.

Much love

Kraft

(click the image to pre-order)

So, the time has come. I've been working hard behind the scenes to wrap this album up after it sitting in my archives for 10 YEARS!!

When I announced that I'd be remastering One Man Show, I don't think I really knew how much work it would really take. But I'm real glad that I did. It's been so fun going back through old music files, videos and photos from 2008. 

For anyone that doesn't know, this album was going to be my first solo album. I locked it away due to the material being too old to release. Which is ironic since here we are now 10 years later, and I'm releasing it.

The album is free but apparently I can't give a pre-order away for free. The minimum pre-order price is 50p. 

For those of you who don't mind waiting to download it on the 18th, just ignore the pre-order and it'll be available on officialkrafty.com asap!

Thank you to everyone who has shown support for One Man Show. 

And don't forget to download it next week so you can get the little gift that comes with the album ;) 

PRE-ORDER AVAILABLE NOW | ALBUM RELEASE: 18TH APRIL 2018

So, last night the kind folks over at Miskin Radio launched their show "Kent Music Hour" with Ben Hopkinson!

Along with many other talented artists, Ben played my song Holding Myself Back from We're All Gonna Die!

Tune in every Wednesday for the #KentMusicHour for new music from all across Kent. I'll be tuning in each week to check out what else Kent has to offer and I recommend you guys do too! You never know who might be your next favourite singer/band.

Thank you to all the guys over at Miskin Radio for the amazing support! 

Tune in at www.MiskinRadio.co.uk

If you missed the show, feel free to check out a snippet on this blog at the bottom! 

You can also listen to Holding Myself Back on these links:
Spotify | iTunes | BandCamp | YouTube

THE ALBUM | OUT NOW!

THE ALBUM | COMING 18-04-2018

This is going to be a long blog post. So grab a coffee and get comfy!

2007: How it began...

In 2007, I released a collaboration album called Private Project. It hit shelves 21st of July:

Promo Poster released in stores to promote the album

The album did well for a local project. A lot of work went into it and even has a couple of songs that people still recite back to me to this day! After working on this project, I wanted to release a solo effort. Something that I could really call my own so I started work on a mixtape. It was only going to be free download and I would press up CDs and give them out for free to whoever would take them.

Songs recorded for the mixtape were When Reality Hits, Massive Attack, One Thing and That Side Of Me. I remember recording a LOT of songs back then. I would pretty much record a minimum of 3 tracks a day. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't doing this 7 days a week. But the majority of my week was definitely spent writing and recording for songs. This was before I launched OfficialKrafty.com

Fast forward to November 2007, the website goes live and I start promoting the mixtape properly. It was around this time that I dropped the idea of it being a free download and started moving towards an actual album. I started frequently collaborating with South West rapper, 3sixT and that eventually led to the idea of us doing a joint EP or mixtape - The Coalition.

Sometimes, it's easier to put a project together with another artist because you're not having to write 100% of the songs/record 100% of the songs etc. 

To try and make a long story short, One Man Show was still being worked on but things really started to get hectic for me when 2008 hit.

2008: Record Labels, Radio & More

The original Spit Pit Music logo, 2008

I launched Spit Pit Music; a music distribution company for me and other artists. I was collaborating with 3sixT and also trying to be a bit of a mentor to Kasper Black and JackPot. JackPot found his feet very quickly. We were all recording a lot, gigging, doing interviews and appearances on radio and it all started to snowball. 

So by April 2008, I put the solo album on hold.

So much was happening and in all fairness, I wasn't giving the album as much attention as it needed. I was working heavily on The Coalition with 3sixT and I was also helping to executively produce Fighting Demons with JackPot. 

I was still recording solo songs, but for the most part, without direction or structure. Two things an album desperately needs.

During this time, I was also getting record label offers and I decided to decline them. I didn't even feel ready for a record deal and the deals themselves seemed like they were asking too much. For anyone who's interested, they were 50/50 split deals so the company would take half of whatever I made from albums, appearances, gigs, etc. Seemed a bit too much.

2009: Abandoned

One of the original designs for the "Not For Resale" mixtape

When we got into 2009, I had abandoned the album altogether. Most of the songs by 2009 had aged and it felt weird to give you guys an album which wasn't new. I'd feel like I was not only selling myself short but also letting you guys down. So, One Man Show was shelved and I began work on an early version of Not For Resale (not the album you hear today).

2018: Revival

One Man Show invitation ticket, 2018

So here we are. It's 10 years later and I've come up with the crazy idea of releasing One Man Show as a 10 year throwback release. Now, it goes without saying, these songs are super old. I sound very different now to how I did back then. Nonetheless, it's always kinda bugged me that the album never came out. I figured, if it's ever going to come out, it has to be in a special way. And what better way than to round it off with a 10 year release date?!

That's roughly 3650 days since it was originally set to come out.

I don't imagine this album will appeal to everyone. Only those of you who will be interested to hear what I was doing 10 years ago. 

Discouragement

In previous years, friends, artists, managers etc have tried to discourage me from releasing old music. There's a stigma in the music industry regarding marketing an older artist or someone who has been around a long time. This is why you don't see new artists promoting the albums they did before they got signed - they think you won't support them if you know they've been around a long time. Let me make this clear right now; I DON'T GIVE A FUCK.

I don't care if people look at me differently for having albums, mixtapes and EPs that span a decade. I'm proud of where I come from and what I've done. I'm not out here trying to pretend I've only been rapping for 6 months. 

I'd also like to take this opportunity - if anyone is still reading, that is - to thank everyone who was supporting me back then. Even if they're not now. Going back to this album and mastering the audio, revisiting songs, interview clips, sound bites etc has really humbled me. It made me realise just how blessed I was back then to have so many people working with me for my dream. Even if they did have their own agendas, it still ultimately taught me a lot and gave me a lot of fond memories.

THE RELEASE

The release date is 18th April 2018. 

One Man Show will be exclusively available on officialkrafty.com + bandcamp. Nowhere else.

The album features 3sixT, Sinima, Lucy Pearson and others and I will be remastering all of the audio on the album to get it sounding better than I ever could. I'll be reviving Spit Pit Music for this release, along with releasing the album under Monumental Records.

When you download this album, there will be a surprise in there for you. Something to hint at what else is to come this year. Thanks to Retro Formats (who print all my albums), One Man Show will also be available on CD at a very affordable price so if you still collect CDs, you'll want to cop this!

Last but not least... 

Thank you. To everyone. 

A very humbled rapper,

Krafty

THE NEW/OLD ALBUM - COMING SOON