Kristen Hanby - Interview + Good Girl ft: YBN Nahmir (Single)

UK artist and songwriter Kristen Hanby releases his brand new single ‘Good Girl,’ featuring US rap star YBN Nahmir today..

The prolific artist, who released his Shooting For The Stars EP last year alongside a series of singles, has already released ‘Talk Shit’ - his collaboration with US hip hop star BlocBoy JB - this year.

With ‘Good Girl,’ he enlists YBN Nahmir on a track that bristles with classic hip hop beats and slick, streamlined production, with Kristen’s and YBN’s lyrical dexterity in perfect harmony.

Kristen has also collaborated with the likes of Lil Xan and had his tracks remixed by Dutch electro house DJ MOTi, whilst YBN Nahmir is known for his work with Gucci Mane, G-Eazy, and 2Chainz.

Wordplay Magazine sat down with Kristen to chop it up with him:

Wordplay Magazine: So, tell me where did it all began? What sparked your love of music?

Kristen Hanby: Before I even started making prank video’s I’d always been a big fan of music and I used to love watching rap battles. So yeah every weekend I’d go out rap battling with my friends and that led me to start writing songs. But I never thought it would be anything I would pursue, so when I got a bit of a following on social media, I thought should I try it? But I was just starting the pranks and didn’t want to dilute my brand. But then it just sort of came about, I was in LA at a friend’s house, and he happened to have a producer living at his house. We started talking, and now, he's the only producer I’ve used to this day because we vibed and just got on straight away. I told him that I’d always wanted to make a proper song, so we got in the studio, recorded a song, 2 weeks later shot the music video and dropped it. After that it just felt right, there was no bad energy and it had a snowball effect.

WPM: Could tell me about some artists that influenced you and that you'd like to work with in the future?

KH: A couple of artists I want to work with in the future are Trippie Redd I’m a big fan of. I’m on that big American auto tune sort of rap at the moment, yeah that's the sort of vibe that I’m going for.  Maybe not so much to collab with but a UK artist I’m a big fan of is Freddo, he’s a great artist. I’ve listened to his new album about 4, 5 times without skipping a song. Another great UK artist is Chip, he is quality and makes some fire music.

WPM: Tell me about some of the problems that you faced making and releasing music during the whole Coronavirus pandemic?

KH: Luckily, when I’ve been making music my producer talks me through things he does and last time he came to Jersey we set up everything he needed for a studio. So I can actually make music in my bedroom. That was just before Covid shut down the UK, so I haven’t really had too many problems. I’ve been rough mixing my side, sending them over and then they were being mastered. Two of my favourite songs; Find a way and All on me I actually recorded myself in lockdown.

WPM: So, your new single dropped on Friday. How did it come about that you got to work with BlocBoy JB? On the new record?

KH: When I’ve been going to LA I've been trying to connect with as many people as possible. A good friend of mine was in the studio with BlocBoy and he messaged me asking me if I wanted to come down, show my face and chill. I ended up going to the studio whilst he was there like 3 or 4 times and we slowly got to know each other and then he reached out saying he would be on one of my songs. And he went in, his verse is crazy.

WPM: How would you describe your sounds?

KH: My sound is singing in your feels, I don’t know if that's a good way to describe something but if I had to pick one type of music to make for the rest of my life I’d probably say the singing rap and just talk about your feelings, kind of like Drake stuff, that's my favourite sound.

WPM: What would you say is your proudest moment to date, so far as an artist?

KH: Proudest moment as an artist, hmmm, one of the best feelings I’d say was when I did my first show that was crazy. I’ve only done one show because of Covid. I was out in Bali and we met this guy who owns a club out there which held 1300 people, and he said to me “do you want to do a show tonight?” I’m pretty outgoing, but I’d never done a show but thought yeah let’s do it!

WPM: Do you have any advice for our readers who may be trying to play the mad game of music?

KH: Yeah, don’t care what anyone says about you! When anyone asks me for advice the one thing I say is do not care about someone else's opinion of you, then follow up with as much content as you can, get it out there, make yourself stand out and be a bit different. If you're doing something in rap music do something crazy to get people looking at you.

WPM: Are there any artists on your radar at the moment that we should check out?

KH: There's my friend from where I'm from, Jersey, he’s just started dropping music called Kinz, he’s crazy.

WPM: What albums have you got on heavy rotation on your Spotify playlist currently?

KH: I’ve got a playlist here now, I’ll read it out to you. At the moment it's got a lot of Juice WRLD in it, he’s one of those people I wish I met. A lot of Kid LAROI he’s crazy, Little Baby, Bankrol Hayden, he’s going to be crazy. They’re all in that same style of auto tuned singing rap.

WPM: Is there anything you like to do when you're not making music or prank videos?

KH: I’ve started getting into my fitness and health, that kind of stuff. My problem is if I’m not making videos or doing something that benefits me I get weird, I have to stay busy.

WPM: Name three things that you can't live without when you're in the studio?

KH: An energy drink, when I was in Canada, we were getting through a lot of energy drinks most nights, doing all-nighters, we were going crazy for energy drinks. Food, I eat a lot of food when making music. We always have a couple of drinks, but I can live without that. Mood lights, colour changing lights in the studio we always have them and change the colour for the vibe that we’re going for.

WPM: I think that’s a wrap. I really appreciate you taking time out to have a chat with me. Best of luck with everything. And I look forward to seeing the next lot of content.

KH: Thanks man.