Hailing from Mitcham, South West London, I present to you Start Kid Aka Startzy.B, born Shunom Yusuf, an 18 year old emcee. With only two years experience on the scene, Start Kid is fast making groundwork, and is set to be one of South London’s most recognisable names by the end of this year.
Currently working on his sixth mix tape project entitled ‘Start’s Not Kiddin’, along with recently shooting his first video ‘In The Club’, Start Kid is no stranger to hard work; all the recording, mixing, editing and mastering is done by himself, that’s not all, Start Kid also own his own clothing line, a record label – CTM Records and has managed gain a strong local following which he hopes to develop further.
“I started off spitting to Grime for fun around the ends with local crews, because I had nothing else to do” says Start. Unfortunately like many London youths, Start Kid managed to get caught up in negativities on the street, and turned to music to save him from a worse situation. “It’s do or be done round here”
“Things started to get crazy on road, and I ended up in the middle of a serious court case, when you’re that close to losing your freedom, and get a another chance, you’re like “rah, I need to do something that gets me clean out of here, when you’re around here, you have very limited options, so I feel like I need to get away, have a fresh start, and the best way for me to do that is to use the talent that god gave me” recalls Start
“I’m trying to avoid a jail or death situation, so I can’t stop making music, any free time I have I’m writing lyrics and recording. I have ‘Start Kid – The Demo’, ‘All Aboard The Starter Train’, ’Hovis – Best of Both’, ‘Startamania 1&2’ and most recently ‘Start From Scratch’, which I managed to sell over 400 copies locally. The money goes straight back into music, so there’s no time for resting at all.”
Start Kid describes himself as the ‘fly guy’ and has a vision to unify the underground and the mainstream cultures, “I want to bring the underground sound to the overground but I need the credibility to do that first”
“The mainstream is very ignorant towards the underground and vice versa, and don’t really want to know each other... so I see that as my job, to bring them together. I’m from the ‘ghetto/hood’, but spend Monday to Friday in a mainstream and higher class institution; I see how both view things and therefore I try to make music that can appeal to both.
“Grime isn’t dead or dying is still very healthy a lot of grime artists are making different kinds of music but diversity isn’t a crime, you can still be a Grime emcee and not make a Grime track, as long as you represent the scene and what grime is all about. If you live a certain way of life that’s what you are. A Grime MC can make a Funky tune, but that don’t mean they weren’t brought up in environment that relates best to the grime scene, a lot of artists aren’t brave enough to do that... to step outside their comfort zone. It’s more of a culture than just a sound”
When it comes to achievements Start Kid has quite a few under his belt, he’s been booked at the UK’s largest street party - Notting Hill Carnival, performing at venues such as SEOne, and sharing line-ups with the likes of Kano, Ghettz, Tinchy Stryder, Double S & Marvell, Ironik
“I’m really optimistic about my music, but it takes work, I don’t expect to make millions, of course I want it, but I’m a realist as well, I appreciate what I have, whereas many people want so much without earning it first. Spitting and making tunes is the easy part. I’ve been offered a scholarship to study music and entertainment industry management at university, which is beneficial because I believe I need all the knowledge I can get to push my clothing line and label forward, I want to be able to support myself and know how to develop my product independently, I don’t want to find myself in a situation where I need something and can’t reach it, so I need to gain and utilize those skills I strongly believe you should trust few and rely on none, if I can do everything myself why ask somebody else?”
Start Kid understands that before you can run; you need to learn to walk and has developed a steady pace and is progressing nicely with his career. “Thank you everyone that has supported me so far and much love to those who continue to do so, I’m going to make a lot of noise this year so keep your open, even you want to close them I’ll be hard to miss…BELIEVE!”
Currently working on his sixth mix tape project entitled ‘Start’s Not Kiddin’, along with recently shooting his first video ‘In The Club’, Start Kid is no stranger to hard work; all the recording, mixing, editing and mastering is done by himself, that’s not all, Start Kid also own his own clothing line, a record label – CTM Records and has managed gain a strong local following which he hopes to develop further.
“I started off spitting to Grime for fun around the ends with local crews, because I had nothing else to do” says Start. Unfortunately like many London youths, Start Kid managed to get caught up in negativities on the street, and turned to music to save him from a worse situation. “It’s do or be done round here”
“Things started to get crazy on road, and I ended up in the middle of a serious court case, when you’re that close to losing your freedom, and get a another chance, you’re like “rah, I need to do something that gets me clean out of here, when you’re around here, you have very limited options, so I feel like I need to get away, have a fresh start, and the best way for me to do that is to use the talent that god gave me” recalls Start
“I’m trying to avoid a jail or death situation, so I can’t stop making music, any free time I have I’m writing lyrics and recording. I have ‘Start Kid – The Demo’, ‘All Aboard The Starter Train’, ’Hovis – Best of Both’, ‘Startamania 1&2’ and most recently ‘Start From Scratch’, which I managed to sell over 400 copies locally. The money goes straight back into music, so there’s no time for resting at all.”
Start Kid describes himself as the ‘fly guy’ and has a vision to unify the underground and the mainstream cultures, “I want to bring the underground sound to the overground but I need the credibility to do that first”
“The mainstream is very ignorant towards the underground and vice versa, and don’t really want to know each other... so I see that as my job, to bring them together. I’m from the ‘ghetto/hood’, but spend Monday to Friday in a mainstream and higher class institution; I see how both view things and therefore I try to make music that can appeal to both.
“Grime isn’t dead or dying is still very healthy a lot of grime artists are making different kinds of music but diversity isn’t a crime, you can still be a Grime emcee and not make a Grime track, as long as you represent the scene and what grime is all about. If you live a certain way of life that’s what you are. A Grime MC can make a Funky tune, but that don’t mean they weren’t brought up in environment that relates best to the grime scene, a lot of artists aren’t brave enough to do that... to step outside their comfort zone. It’s more of a culture than just a sound”
When it comes to achievements Start Kid has quite a few under his belt, he’s been booked at the UK’s largest street party - Notting Hill Carnival, performing at venues such as SEOne, and sharing line-ups with the likes of Kano, Ghettz, Tinchy Stryder, Double S & Marvell, Ironik
“I’m really optimistic about my music, but it takes work, I don’t expect to make millions, of course I want it, but I’m a realist as well, I appreciate what I have, whereas many people want so much without earning it first. Spitting and making tunes is the easy part. I’ve been offered a scholarship to study music and entertainment industry management at university, which is beneficial because I believe I need all the knowledge I can get to push my clothing line and label forward, I want to be able to support myself and know how to develop my product independently, I don’t want to find myself in a situation where I need something and can’t reach it, so I need to gain and utilize those skills I strongly believe you should trust few and rely on none, if I can do everything myself why ask somebody else?”
Start Kid understands that before you can run; you need to learn to walk and has developed a steady pace and is progressing nicely with his career. “Thank you everyone that has supported me so far and much love to those who continue to do so, I’m going to make a lot of noise this year so keep your open, even you want to close them I’ll be hard to miss…BELIEVE!”
