Who and What is Niko B?

Coming from YouTube, to your clothing brand Crowd, to "Mary Berry," and now "Who's That What's That," it's been a journey. How did you even get to this place?

Um, probably when I was like 12 or 13,  I knew exactly what direction I wanted to go in and everything. There was nothing scarier to me than like having like an office job or something like that. That was like engraved into my mind at like 12, 13. And then from there, just like the internet, YouTube, and just like watching all these amazing people, just like how they do it. Or if I'm looking at it, like even just a presenter on a telly, I'm like, 'If they can get to that position then like anyone can.' So I was like, 'Yeah, just stop,' didn't make any excuses and just like went and did it basically. I just have a go at everything as well obviously, like clothes, music,  art.

So do you seek any inspiration from people who do those things?

A hundred percent, honestly. It's people, not really anyone big, but just like seeing anyone do something that gets them happy. I always say this but, imagine there's like a kid that made something really sick on Minecraft, like that they think is really sick. If they make like a house on Minecraft that they think is cool and that makes them happy, people would look at that and be like "That's rubbish. Like, why would you do that?" But if they're happy with it then that's sick.

What was your childhood like? What were you doing, and what were your interests?

Um yeah, when I was a kid, it was all futbol or "soccer," but then people started growing and I kind of stayed the same height. So I kind of started distancing myself from futbol. It just got a lot more heavy-hitting, and I was like, I'm not built for this at all. And so I sort of just quit that.

And then there was always music as well. My dad always wanted to be a rock star and I wanted to be a rockstar. And I used to play Guitar Hero so much in my room. I had Guitar Hero on like a PlayStation 2, so I'd call my dad and put it on speaker, and just put it next to the TV while I'm like playing songs. And like no context, like I wouldn't say like "Oh, listen to what I'm playing on Guitar Hero." He'd just pick up the phone and I'd put it next to the telly and he'd just hear a really loud song. He'd be like, "What is going on?" And then, just a lot of time on like YouTube and just like watching things, I guess. I was probably like 10 and I've watched this John Cena WWE rap battle. I love that video so much. I used to watch that religiously. And then from there that just like got me into like everything really.

I used to loved WWE. Smackdown VS Raw, which one were you?

I was Smackdown. I think I thought Raw was scary or something like that. Raw was more like hardcore.

A kid of the internet. So when I was doing research on you, I was like, 'Oh shit, he was in the Times and Vogue." But then when I would go through a lot of the articles, they were talking about like, "What happens when you're a one-hit-wonder?" and, "What happens when you're like a kid of the internet?" And I'm like, well, little did they know you'd be coming out with this huge hit.

That's what I'm saying!

Do you feel like people often try to box you in?

Uh, I feel like nowadays everything is made to put in a box, which is really annoying, but it just is what it is. But it bothered me when people would ask me like, "Oh what genre is your music?" Like why does that matter? Like, why do I have to like put it in this category? So obviously people would try to like box it into whatever they want. But honestly, like I'm not trying to do that at all. Because then you'll start like picking up characteristics of like what should be in the box, if that makes sense. Then it will start sounding like everything else. And that just like messes up the process.

So how does it feel to prove them wrong also?

It feels sick! Honestly, it's sick. But no, it makes good headlines as well, I guess, but it's just like, I don't know, people love talking but it's fine. It's fun. I love it because my music is like marmites, people either like it or like just don't get it at all. And if they don't get it, they just don't like it. But I like that. I really like that. So it's a good topic for conversation.

What was the process of writing "Who's That What's That?" Like, were you writing it knowing that it was going to be big or that it had to match "Mary Berry" in terms of popularity?

Oh not at all, I just wrote it I guess. And then, yeah, I love the song and I had it for like eight months. It just sat there because the release just kept getting pushed back. I wanted to release it before Christmas, but then I said it's a bad time to release it because of knowing the radio and like it's all Christmas music or whatever. And I was gonna release it in March and then lockdown happened and this happened, that happened. But now, the process behind that was literally just talking about everyday teenage shit. The idea, so it's like house parties, McDonald's, like literally everything. I feel like I do that with all my music—just talk about the regular life of like a UK teenager, I guess.

I feel like sometimes people assume that your writing process may be not as serious because of what you talk about in your songs. Do you think that you even have to be, or are there serious elements in it that are masked as something that's very casual?

I really didn't think that deep into it. It's just sort of like in my notes, I write down just the things I do on a day to day. And then I just incorporate that into a song. People might think it's not serious, It's one hundred percent serious. I just don't take myself seriously. Music is 100% serious, a million percent serious, like trillion percent, but just maybe the topics I talk about aren't as serious. And I like it like that. If I did like make the lyrics like proper serious, I think I'd overthink it too much. It would sound like too much like something now. The things I like talking about is regular fun shit, but who knows, in like two, three years I could concentrate on more serious topics. It's whatever I'm feeling at the time, but in like two years, I feel like I could talk more about emotions and shit like that, and then that's what we're talking about. Or I don't know, If I'm really into like racecar driving, then that's what the topics would be about. But just for now, It's just like the regular shit that I'm talking about.

Your rap name originated from Nico Bellic, a Grand Theft Auto character. And then it had to be filed down to Nico B. Did EA games reach out?

No, they didn't reach out. I was just like, 'Niko Bellic is just too iconic, I can't be having the full name.' I wish they reached out, that would have been sick. So even just talking to like one person that works there would have been sick.

So you do Crowd, which is your clothing brand. How do you map out and have a schedule for doing Crowd and music on top of that?

I really need a schedule, I was talking about this the other day. I really need like a routine. I'm going to build a routine one day. I want to wake up, like play tennis, even though I'm really unfit, or like ride a bike or something. And then eat breakfast and do everything. But right now it's just like, I just wake up and then whatever I want to work on—it could be like a song I'm writing, a visual I'm trying to come up with, Crowd designs, or a photoshoot. I could also be doing a short film for Crowd or like, I'm trying to design jewelry at the moment. I'm trying to like come up with like a script for productions and things like that. So it's just whatever I wake up with and what I work, so then that's what I'm doing that day. You know, whatever comes out naturally. I try to not stress myself out over like, "I got to do this today! And then this has to get released on this day. But then the same day at this time." I try not to do that. It's just whatever comes out naturally. Like it could happen. I could make a design for Crowd now and release it in like a year or in six months. Or I could make a design for Crowd now and be like, 'Okay, I want this to come out like in eight days or whatever.'

What are some of the inspirations behind the designs for Crowd?

It's just whatever I'd like and be a fan of. It's the same as music, It's all like, if I'm a fan of it, then that's all that matters. So it's just whatever I wear. The way I started Crowd was, I wanted this Supreme t-shirt, and I was like I do not want to pay like 300 pounds for this t-shirt. So I was like, I'm just gonna make my own t-shirt, I guess. And then I did that. I think I just liked the fact that there was red and black on it. I think there was like a tiny bit of text that had red and black or something like that. I was like, 'I like those colors on a white t-shirt, so I'm going to make the design.' And I did that and made one for myself and that was like my biggest design. People were like, "This is sick!" So I was like, 'I'm going to just design more and more, more, and more.'

I've always like to design clothes. This reminds me very much of WWE when I was younger, I got my mom to like make me—I got this like tight black top, and then like cut out this pink felt, and I got her to like stitch it onto the top and I was like, 'I made my own wrestler's costume.'

You only have two official songs out, so if you could match each song to a piece in a Crowd collection, what would they be?

For "Who's That What's That" it would be this [Blue Amour crewneck], this jumper, I wore it in the video. I wore it in the video, that's the only reason, but I like the blue, it's a very nice blue. For "Mary Berry," I don't even know. Oh, this t-shirt [Pretty Vacant t-shirt]. It's because it says 'Blonde Girls' on it, Mary Berry is a blonde girl. It reminds me of an angel cake, it's pink and yellow. She's a baker so that could work.

I don't know who that is.

She's a very famous like old British baker.

She's like Paula Dean for the UK, right?

Pauli D, like from Jersey Shore? I don't know who that is.

No, Paula Dean. She's a little problematic, but she's a great baker.

The only American one that I know is Martha Stewart.

Oh, she went to jail, equally as problematic.

Our old British baker, she's not like that. She's cool, she's calm.

So when I listened to your music, I like it a lot, but there's this thing that happens to me when I listen to a lot of UK based music. I can't understand a lot of what's going on due to the slang. Is there any UK or Milton Keynes slang you could teach?

In "Mary Berry," I said the word 'gaff', and a lot of people didn't know that meant, that just means house. "In Who's That What's That," I said Grey Goose, do you have Grey Goose in America?

Like the alcohol? Yeah.

Okay, yeah, because I was talking about Grey Goose and a lot of people were like, "What's that?" 'Gerkin!' In America, you don't say 'gerkin,' it just pickles.

Lastly, where do you see yourself going? What are your up-and-coming plans?

To be taller, I want to somehow get taller.

How tall are you?

I'm like 5'8, it's not too bad, but I want to be like 5'12.

5'12 is not a height in feet. It's 5'11 and then it cuts off and goes to 6'0.

I'm going to make it a height. That's one of my goals, I'm going to be the first 5'12 person ever. Also, I want a plaque. I just want a plaque. I don't even care what plaque is for, I just want a plaque. I mean, obviously music, but just like a plaque. And then, yeah, just to keep inspiring people and like bringing them into my world and then just keep releasing good shit. Good music and good ideas.