Next Up? K5ive

K5ive has risen out of the Nottingham scene, making a name for himself with his stories of personal experience. He blew up off the success of ‘Love Don’t Change‘ which has over 7 million plays on Spotify.

Now in 2022, K5ive is here to tell us what’s ‘Next Up,’ how someone becomes in touch with their feelings on the music, and why you should keep your eyes directed to the East Midlands.

The ‘Next Up’ Touches on Some Personal Feelings. What in Life Has Allowed You to Be in Touch with Your Emotions?

I feel like you can go through stages of life that test you in a way where you are forced to find yourself. In my case, the past year or so (of) my life has changed so much, to where I had to learn about myself and that has made me so much more in tune with how I am feeling.

‘Love Don’t Change’ Was a Huge Hit for Yourself. How Do You Follow Up a Big Song Without Falling into the Trap of Following a Formula?

If you really love this music game like I do, like really have a passion for it, you are going to find a way to make it happen! Keep making music, test your boundaries and always improve, and through that people will fall in love with whatever you do, no matter what.

Nottingham is Becoming a Known Place for MCs to Come Out of. What Has Changed to Allow That to Happen?

A whole load of things are the reason for that, but all I know is our new generation aren’t scared of making it happen. We have so much talent you wouldn’t even know, but slowly and surely we are making it known!

Is Rapping Over Beats with Sampled Vocals a Personal Choice?

I will rap over whatever feels right, sometimes these sample beats be too hard to pass by, LMAO. But, I have a bunch of songs without them and as I release more and more then we will all see what I have to offer!

What is the Most Important Aspect of Your Creative Process?

One word. Authenticity! Everything I rap about stems from real-life situations, emotions, memories. Linking back to what I said about finding yourself, that helped me hone my authenticity, and if people rock with what I got next then lit. If not, you will rock with the next one after that, they can’t sleep forever.

K5ive is on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. His ‘Next Up‘ is on the Mixtape Madness YouTube!