At the moment, you can barely blink before a new hip-hop act appears on the UK scene. Blink again and many of them disappear back into obscurity, having had their five minutes of fame. True, there’s a big pool of talent here – just check Jehst, Sway and Broke'n'English to see – but how do emerging artists manage to swim and not sink in this hectic and often heartless industry?

Sam Clack visited rapper, singer and founder of Urbeatz music collective Young Kof at his Liverpool studio to hear his story so far, including spots with Ms Dynamite, Lupe Fiasco, on 1Xtra and Channel U, and discovers more about his blueprint for success.

“First of all when, how and why did the idea for Urbeatz come about?

I've sung all my life but never taken it seriously; I started messing about just writing silly raps like little jokes. I ended up writing something about my life "Hard Times” and I had a little demo programme that I could record on but I couldn't save. I showed a couple of people the track and they seemed to like it. I dunno if they were shocked just because I'd done it or what. I got told about a small recording studio in Ormskirk where I could record it for a small fee. I checked it out and managed to get a decent recording.

The guy who owned the studio played it for a few friends who were doing gigs called the LMC. They asked me if I wanted to perform at a small rock event. I wrote a few more tracks and performed them. My cousin (Yaw) was there for support and was giving me tips while I was on stage. It turned out to be a success and the crowd seemed to enjoy the energy and performance. After that show, I got asked to do the Bikerstaff festival. I asked Yaw if he wanted to manage me coz I was booked for a couple more small festivals. We decided to go under the mane Urbeatz with the plan to work with more artists and get them shows and stuff. I got some of my own recording equipment and it's been a rap since then (excuse the pun!).

“What are its main driving forces and goals and how do you hope to achieve them?

The main driving force is success. We want to be successful in everything we do whilst keeping in line with a high level of quality. We have different goals all the time such as mixtape deadlines, getting radio play, getting music videos played. All of which have been achieved. Most goals we've set have been reached. For instance, we wanted to start up a newsletter by the end of the year. We've actually now joined up with a publisher and set up a magazine. So now we're co owners of a magazine and it's not even Christmas.

We're also setting up Urbeatz Films which will be producing music videos and we've just finished writing a film which will be shot in autumn.

“Now, your mum's Liverpudlian, your dad's Ghanaian and you were raised in East London. Where do you feel your roots are and how have these very different influences affected the direction of your music?

(Glad you asked this question)

Although I was raised in east London, I feel my roots will always be in Liverpool. When I lived in London I would visit family in Liverpool at least once a month. Living in London though, music is everywhere. Everybody was doing it, especially in my middle teens, and I would sing now and again but I was more of a spectator. I spent most of my time listening to Garage, rnb and Hip-hop and I was there around the birth of grime so I'd been heavily introduced to the main "urban" scene. Since I've moved back to Liverpool I have that London twang in my accent when I speak and rap so it's definitely influenced my speech. In terms of musical style, It's made me aware of how music can be so different and you can do different genre's as apposed to just one, which is why I might rap on one track, sing on another and then MC on one after that. As far as heritage, I can't really say I've been influenced because I don't know too much about my parental background. Not enough to influence my music anyway. Unless I'm talking about subjects like race or slavery.

“You certainly have a unique style of performing, combining rapping with soulful singing. Tell me who you’re key influences on both sides of the coin are and which genre do you feel most affinity with?

I've always sung since I can remember so that's me, first. Rapping is something I've picked up along the way but I feel strongly about both. Sometimes it's better to sing about something than rap it, and vice versa. I feel fortunate to be able to do both as well as I do. It sets me apart from a lot of other artists.

When I was younger I'd listen to singers like Donny Hathaway, Stevie wonder, the temptations and then modern artists like Jacko, Musiq Soulchild, Glenn Lewis, Usher, R. Kelly and laugh if you want but I think Justin Timberlake has a sick falsetto voice so I rate him for that too. In terms of rapping, the usual two on everybody's list, tupac and biggie, landmarks in the whole movement! Love Jay-z's music. I can't fault him. Right now I'm feeling Lupe Fiasco. I'm influenced by loads of rappers. I'm into British artist's such as Kano, Dizzie, Sway, Klashnekoff. Too many to name here.

“New artists seem to be emerging every day and there's a lot of talent out there in the UK. What sets you and other Urbeatz artists apart from the rest?

We don't follow no trends. I'm not gonna say "We're real, we speak the truth" even though we do, but that’s clichéd now. We make good music and we're true to ourselves and the places we come from. On a real though, I don't think anybody in the uk can do me like me. I know that there are a couple of artists that sing and rap, I don't think any of them reach me in quality of content and flow and be good at both styles as sharp as me! If I'm wrong, come find me! Ha!

“What have been your key achievements so far?

I've done a lot of things that I'm proud of over the past two years and I'd like to put them all down. Obviously I cant. The first would be setting up Urbeatz with my cuz, that means that hopefully I won't ever have to work for anyone.

Musically, I've done tracks and shared the stage with some great uk artists. Skinny man, Ms Dynamite etc. and it's a pleasure to do that and be seen on a par with them in some circles. My greatest to date though is writing the track "Where did we go wrong", A song I wrote about racism, where I talk about the death of Anthony Walker and Steven Lawrence. Also about society on the whole and how black people and members of ethnic minorities are treated in the uk and across the globe. It's the realest song I've ever wrote and it touches everybody who hears it. When people tell me how much they love the song and tell me how good it is that I'm making positive music, It stands for a lot in my mind. It's definitely the song I'm most proud of.

“Now, as well as performing, you also effectively run a business. I mean, you've got the Urbeatz store and, arguably more importantly, you're maintaining some very strong links in the Liverpool community. How important is it not just to perform, but also to perform as a business?

It's extremely important. With downloading so rife at the moment and being that artists are 10 a penny these days, it's hard to make a living out of music. Having a business means that we can explore other ventures and be able to survive without solely relying on the music. It also gives us a change to give back to the communities that aren't as well off as a lot of places in the uk. We do workshops in schools and youth groups, teaching poetry through rapping or bullying and racism and stuff. We cover the board quite well with the programmes we offer. Also with Urbeatz films, and Urbeatz radio. We have other mediums of getting our music heard and making people aware of the talent we have and the talent that is out there.

“What about the workshops you run with Urbeatz? Tell me about them.

They help community leaders and school teachers to relate to the pupils a little better. Because we are young and hip-hop is very much the in thing at the moment, teachers are looking for new and better ways to reach kids and raise issues that are going on in their lives and society. It's easy for the kids to relate to us because we come from the same background as most of them so we can identify with them better. We just use what we know and have learnt through our own experiences to educate the children that we work with.

“You've recently received some good coverage on 1Xtra, loads of people have been downloading the podcast you put out and now a member of your stable - Pyro - is putting it down on Channel U. Things are looking pretty good for you right now aren't they?

Yeah, definitely. It was only a matter of time before people started to recognize what we can bring to the table. 1Xtra have supported us when some dj's in Liverpool wouldn't. Now everybody's on it. They've shown us a lot of love. We've had interviews and been played on some of the best shows on there, Ras Kwame, Semtex and twin B etc. So it's made a lot of people stand up and take notice. We were the first people to get a video on channel U from Liverpool so we've kinda set the benchmark with all that video stuff. We wanna hit MTV Base and get nationally know. It's good to get your city on side first though. Pyro's video is doing big on Channel U now though. We wanna take it bigger though. The video for where did we go wrong is doin well too and has just reached number 9 in the channel U Chart. Young mob's video for where Ya Der should be on now too so everyones getting their shine on. It's good. Can only get better from here though!

“So where does Kof - not sure I can call you young any more! - stand now and what's up next for you and the Urbeatz collective?

Ha ha! Yeah I think I'm gonna drop the young soon. It's hard though coz that's what people know me as. I'm not big enough to have name changing ceremony like Diddy just yet though. Ha.

Next Out we've got Epitome's Mixtape Called "Epitome Of the Remix" scheduled to come out soon. He's done a bunch of remix's and laid famous rappers over it. It's dirty. Old skoolers and new skoolers alike will love it. We haven't got an exact date coz our hard drive blew an we didn't have a back up so we're just sorting out the finishing touches on that one. Should be out in the next couple of months though. We've got defiance's Mixtape out soon too. It features the skilled production of defiance himself along side some of the best rappers in Liverpool. Can't wait for that one. Pyro and the Younger mob should both have their mixtapes out in the first quarter of next year so keep an ear out for them. I'm currently working on my solo mixtape which is gonna get you on it, if your not already in the month of Octber this year. It's called Love Life 'N' Music. Gonna have everthing on it. Singing, Rapping MCing. Just finished a track last night which may be the first single. It's called Circles. The hook will be in your head for time! All our mixtapes will be sold in Virgin and Probe in Liverpool and if there ain't no copy's there, you can find information on where to get it from at www.urbeatz.com. We're planning the film as well in the autumn so keep on the website for when that's out.

If anybody wants to sign up to our mailing list were we'll send you some of our new tracks and promo's you can email us at mailinglist@urbeatz.com

Keep your eyes open coz it's goona be a good year!

Peace