inQUIZitive: Lil Shakz

It's time for a brand new edition of 'inQUIZitive'. The digital interview series where we give some of the most exciting talents coming out of the music industry, the opportunity to express themselves and let us know who they really are. With a blend of lifestyle and career based questions, the CGuk team will dig deep with the artists and give the fans an insight into their lifestyle, journey and musical influences.

As he embarks on the most exciting year of his career to date, we have sat down with fast-risng, London based rapper Lil Shakz. With his forthcoming project in the works, and his most recent single 'Pop Up' doing huge numbers, it was only right that we chopped it up with him.

• In 5 words, describe the city that raised you - and tell us your most distinctive memory growing up there?

"Rough, fun, inspirational, unique and cultured. I think some of my most distinctive memories come from me, my dad and sister spending most of our evenings after school at my uncles barber shop where we would practice lyrics, improve on our confidence, try out different beats and grow our passion for music more and more."

• If you had to pick 3 tracks that summarise your musical influences, what would they be?

"I'd have to pick Dave's Blackbox freestyle, Stormzy - Shut Up and 57th Dynasty - Break Free."

• You can have a studio session with one artist, and one producer. Who are you linking up with?

"J Hus and Dave, because Dave also produces music so that way I could have 2 of my main goats in the same room and I believe we would leave the studio with a groundbreaking banger."

• You’re trapped on an island, and you can only have 3 items. What are you picking?

"Mac, mic and speaker. That way I could record music and it would be quite inspirational to write music in that type of setting not knowing if your gonna make it out or not."

• Your diet is limited to two meals. You can pick one that you have to cook, and can pick one to be cooked for you. What are you going for?

"The meal that will be cooked for me is Jollof Rice, Chicken with a side of homemade Coleslaw, and the meal I would have to cook will be a Full English breakfast (no pork)."

• At the age of 17 you have already received support from platforms like Apple Music, Link Up TV, JDZ Media and Pacman TV…what does it feel like to have already achieved so much, and does it push you to reach greater heights?

"It honestly feels amazing. I feel like the more accolades I have and continue to gain, it just pushes me to work harder because it reminds me that I’m getting even closer to achieving my goals and making a full time career out of music."

• Your Dad was a member of the Brixton Hip-Hop group 57th Dynasty. Did he set high standards for you as an artist, and do you think that it has had a positive impact on your development?

"My Dad being a part of 57th Dynasty and an artist has 100% had a positive impact on my development. It came with so many iconic, inspiring stories that always make me want to achieve similar things. One of the main positive impacts that came with this is that my Dad was also an amazing performer and one of the best performers out of the group, so growing up around this set me up with unique skills when it comes to performing, that some artists will never have. This is so important because being a great performer is definitely a big part of being a successful artist with a goat status. Aside from that my Dad did definitely set the standards high but this was good because it’s made me work harder."

• We’ve already seen you release popular tracks such as ‘Belong To The Streets’, ‘True To Myself’ and ‘Minimal Things’. What track are you the most proud of and why?

"Out of all of those three singles I’m most proud of 'Minimal Things'. Not only does it have the most streams but the way it took off definitely put me in a good position to kickstart my career properly. It started off as a TikTok freestyle that I had no intention of making a track, but it blew up overnight and now has just under 150k views on TikTok. Due to high demand it had to be turned into a track. I'm very thankful for that moment, it taught me within music you never know what’s going to happen next."

• You’re preparing for the release of your debut mixtape ‘Tunnel Vision’. What can we expect to hear you rap about on the project?

"You can expect to hear me rap about several topics such as love, positivity, pushing the youth, my upbringing and being from London."

• The future looks bright for Lil Shakz…where do you see yourself in the next five years?

"I see myself being the artist I’ve always wanted to be. Being a household name in the UK with several club, street and versatile bangers and headlining shows such as Glastonbury, Wireless and international events."