North London-based Rap artist Custodian releases his single ‘Rise’ on the Friday, 28th of January 2022 from his self-made independent record label Nine to Five Entertainment. Flaunting his early success, whilst uplifting his community with words of empowerment and business ownership the track takes us through a clever storyline which covers issues of politics, covid and its grip on today's society.
‘Rise’ follows five previously released singles over the past few years, the first of which ‘Oscar’ garnered over 100k streams on Spotify alone. Listing his core values of loyalty, passion, positivity, honesty and business ownership, the future looks bright for Custodian. Make sure to follow his socials and keep up to date with his latest moves. We caught up with Custodian to find out more...
Hi Custodian, how have you been? I’ve been good by the grace of God and I just want to say thanks for having me on this platform. This will be my first time being interviewed about my music so it really means alot to me.
Can you tell us more about your latest single "Rise"? Yeah sure, Rise is a song that really means alot to me. I created this song around the time my father passed away from brain cancer. It's a song that has a huge place in my heart and it was the first drill beat song that I’ve ever done so it was me trying something new.
“Rise” has a very distinctive sound unlike most of the Rap artists in the UK at the moment. How would you describe your sound? I would describe my sound as a breath of fresh air. I think my sound is hugely needed in the UK rap scene for it to move forward. Including my gift of storytelling, I'm the type of artist that heavily believes in the power of not only recording a track but also the power of creating an image around that same concept that will captivate all listeners.
You tackle a lot of social issues in “Rise. How personal are all of them to you as an artist? All of them are personal to me, just the same coming from where I'm coming from. I've sadly seen so many people have a dream and a gift but haven't been able to follow through on it because of lack of opportunity as I believe opportunity is a gateway to success so I speak openly about it.
“Rise” is released through your independent record label. Can you tell us more about the recording process? Yeah sure, my recording process is an interesting one I usually get my beats from my two most favorite producers Pablo and Nate22 and then I start writing to all the beats that they send me I do this until I've got a few guaranteed quality songs that I can stand behind proudly then I just decide from there when to release them.
The single has a quite entertaining video. Can you tell us more about the video shooting and your video game inspirations? Well the video to the song rise was a concept that I had in my mind for some time I just needed someone who would be able to understand my vision for the track.So I kept on looking for a music director which for me wasn't easy to find but thanks to God I found Will Fidler director at Oliverbrian Productions soon as we had a conversion about what I'm looking to do it just took of from there like a house on fire he just understood exactly what my vision was for the project. And when it comes to the video game inspirations that just comes from my love of video games and my love for giving the viewer something more than they would have expected I like keeping my audience engaged at all times and amazed by what they are seeing. I love hearing them say wow this is crazy.
Yor music is linked to a lot of US Hip-Hop legends. What are your main influences? I don't really have one person in hip-hop I look up to. It's a mix of rappers like Tupac,Jayz,Krs one ect I get inspired mainly by what they represent and how hard they worked on their craft.
You are tipped as the UK Kendrick Lamar, some big shoes to fill. How do you feel about your reputation and what are your main goals? I feel really blessed to be in the same conversation as kendrick lamar and secondly I feel like this is what the uk needs so desperately as our music evolves so does the need for more diversity in our sounds as we compete on the global market. And when it comes to main goals one of them is to be the first artist from the uk to break into the us market once and for all. I feel I got the blueprint and the music and the vision to compete and captivate their audience from over there. I've been getting really good responses from my American audience and I just hope to keep building offa that and my connections with some of their artists down there.
Can we expect more music from you in 2022 and are you planning an album or EP release? Yeah God willing you can expect to hear a few new songs from me in 2022 and you never know maybe even a mixtape.
Any plans for live performances this year? Good question me and my team are in talks right now about getting me on stage to do a live performance, as this is a crucial area for any artist trying to establish themselves in this music industry I see it as a huge stepping stone for any artist thats looking to grow they fanbase and build hype around they name so yeah hopeful this year I will get my chance to go on stage and show the world why custodian is here to stay.
