CA$PAR INTERVIEW: An up-and-coming artist who’s been finding spots of virality through his freestyles on social media, West London-based artist CA$PAR is one of the most exciting but also interesting rising acts to surface in UK Rap in recent months. Get familiar…

What five words define your sound?

Base-y, dark, hard, bouncy, melodic 

Tell me something unique about your creative process.

I make the beat with the producer and write the song in the session. I like to get everything done in one go to ensure it captures the moment and vibe of the session.

Which song of yours would you like people to hear first?

‘CA$H BEAT’ – CA$PAR & HARGO

What inspired you to make that song?

This is the first song me and Hargo made with each other and we have now done six – we are currently working on a project together called ‘Give it to God”’ There was no real inspiration behind it; we just got in the studio and made it happen. I went into it with my life experience and general inspiration coming from the music I listen to and other art forms I love. Sub-consciously this goes into my music.

For example, I grew up on old school Hip Hop, being born in LA and listening to everything Dr. Dre. At the time of making ‘CA$H BEAT’, I was listening to a lot of Trap music, mainly Tay Keith and Metro Boomin. Along with my love of Grime, all these sounds should be present in the music. I want my sound to reflect who I am and where I come from; UK and US.

What’s the best/worst experience you’ve had on stage?

My best experience on stage is performing with my sister who is an incredibly talented singer – we made a song together (‘You’ – CA$PAR & Anna Gross) and having her twin on stage with us as a backup dancer. I have always enjoyed performing and can’t think of a bad experience.

What is your favourite song to perform?

At the moment the one with my sister (‘You’ – CA$PAR & Anna Gross)

Which artist/song/album made you want to make music?

I first listened to Rap on my Dad’s iPod when I was eight, through Eminem, The Streets, Dizzee Rascal, Roll Deep, Plan B, 50 Cent and Dr. Dre. However, Eminem is who I became obsessed with and the person that really got me hooked on Rap music. For the next 10 years of my life, Rap was essentially all I listened to. I began freestyling with my friends at 14 and decided to pursue rap as a career at 16. If I had never gone through my Dad’s music and fell in love with Eminem, I wouldn’t be rapping today.

What’s the meaning behind your name?

There’s nothing special behind my name. I was sitting on the toilet one day when it just came to me. As life has gone on it makes more sense, but at the time it was just a cool name for my instagram.

If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing instead?

I would be acting and creating film or TV. This has always been a passion of mine and something I also want to pursue in life. In fact, I am currently working on developing a TV show about CA$PAR which people can expect to see more of soon.

What’s success to you?

Success in Rap is being the best in my eyes and considered great by others. I want to be in conversations with rappers I consider GOATs that I grew up on and listen to, collaborating with people I love and respect. In my career, I essentially want to dominate the entertainment industry and change the way it operates, giving artists more autonomy and creative freedom.

I want to change the world and make it a better place – I think this encompasses what overall success is for me. In terms of my personal life, success means having a happy family life with a loving partnership and raising children, giving them the best possible life; family is everything to me.

What moment in your life/career forced you to change direction?

Going to university was a big moment in my life. While I was there, my ex-girlfriend left me and I was going through a tough time. I hated the university lifestyle and cared solely about my music. This was very important for me as it taught me about discipline and what it takes to achieve the goals I had set out for myself from a young age.

I was releasing music and no one was hearing it, so I set out a plan to grow my social media presence by writing and releasing 100 freestyles in a year. I ended up with 75 and these freestyles are the reason I’m here today. Although I hated university, it changed my life for the better.

Where can people keep in touch with you?

Feel free to message me on instagram. There is an email on there if it’s a business matter.

@casparthefriendlygross

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