inQUIZitive: Kenzo Str8Drop

Manchester rapper Kenzo Str8Drop has officially entered a new chapter with the release of his debut album, 'Hood Exit' - a 12-track project that documents an artist attempting to create distance between the life he once knew and the person he's becoming.

Since emerging from Manchester, Kenzo has deliberately kept the world at arm's length. A largely faceless presence in a genre built around personality, his story has instead unfolded through his music - from a freestyle recorded behind bars to collaborations with Aitch, over 40 million streams and a rapidly growing

audience.

But Hood Exit represents something different. Built entirely during his time as a free man, the album is Kenzo's attempt to process the experiences that shaped him while beginning to move beyond them. Across the project, gritty realism and sharp storytelling sit alongside a growing sense of reflection, with longtime collaborator Kong helping create the sonic foundation for a body of work that feels deeply personal.

For Kenzo, however, this isn't a story about completely leaving the past behind. As he explains, Hood Exit is only the beginning of that journey - a first step towards a life beyond what he's always known.

With the release of his debut album, CGuk caught up with Kenzo Str8Drop for the latest edition of inQUIZitive to talk about transformation, vulnerability, success, Manchester and the person behind the mask.

Your album 'Hood Exit' feels like more than just a title - it almost sounds like a statement of intent. What does this project represent for you personally, and why does this feel like the right moment to tell this story?

"I feel like it's a chapter of a story. I don't want it to sound like I'm exiting the hood, there's gonna be stages. So this is the starting point of me trying to exit what I've been used to my whole life. I've come out of prison and been trying to move away from that life. This album is an explanation of that chapter. It's almost like a purge, getting those stories out there is allowing me to put distance between the life I was living then and the life I'm living now."

You've intentionally remained a relatively faceless artist, letting the music speak louder than your personality. What made you approach your career that way, and has your relationship with privacy changed as you've grown as an artist?

"Just because of the lifestyle I was living previously, you know? It wouldn't really match a rapper's lifestyle, so I tried making it two separate people, if that makes sense. It's not going to be long term though. By the end of the year or the beginning of next year, I'm hopefully going to be taking the mask off."

Your recent single 'Opp Weather' touches on moving away from a lifestyle that no longer serves you. How difficult has that transition been, and what have you learned about yourself throughout that process?

"It's been very difficult. For a lot of people that are leaving jail, they don't have that option of a legit income. I'm very lucky to have music for that reason. It's been very difficult, but you know, chin up, chest out and you just get on with it. I've learnt that if you put the same energy into anything legitimate as you put into the roads, you'll get somewhere. I feel like a lot of people don't realise that. Money is whatever, but if you put that same energy into anything in life, you're gonna see something at the end of the tunnel."

Your music has always felt rooted in lived experience, but your team mentioned this is the most vulnerable you've been willing to be. Was there a particular moment where you realised honesty was more powerful than protecting parts of yourself?

When I first started music, there was nothing else in my existence apart from selling drugs and doing road, so I had nothing else to speak about.

Back then, my brain only knew one thing. It didn't care about family, relationships or any of that. My main focus was money, drugs and violence.

But now I've grown up, so I feel like hopefully people are seeing that in my music. And if you want the old Kenzo, go listen to the old Kenzo.

Your journey has taken you from prison to collaborating with artists like Aitch, building millions of streams and releasing your debut project. Looking back, how has your definition of success changed over the last few years?

When I first started music, I just wanted 100k streams. Now I've got over 40 million, I've performed to over 5,000 people and have a song with Aitch, so I wouldn't say I'm exactly where I want to be, but I'm definitely a long way away from where I started.

But success to me is a mansion in a gated community with my mother, and me doing pottery classes or something.

Manchester has shaped so many influential voices in UK music. How has the city shaped your outlook — both as an artist and as a person?

If it wasn't for Aitch, I would hate most artists in Manchester, because one thing about Manny is nobody likes to support each other. Like, nobody helps each other out, nobody wants to promote or push anyone else in the right direction.

Aitch is just an anomaly out of the group, if I'm being honest. When you think of successful people out of Manny, you've got Aitch, Tunde and Bugzy Malone, and maybe like two or three other names, but no one else I can think of off the top of my head.

There is no one out here pushing each other, so to be fair, it just made me not want to be an industry kid, because I don't mind shining the light on people, bro, but nobody does that in my city, which is a very sad and unfortunate thing.

Apart from that, Manchester is a great city and it breeds a certain kind of human being.

When people finish listening to Hood Exit, what do you hope they understand about Kenzo Str8drop that they perhaps didn't know before?

As much as it's still gritty, there is growth in it, so I hope people can hear the progression.

First song you ever wrote

Before The Lick.

First time you realised music could genuinely change your life

When I went jail.

First piece of advice that has stayed with you throughout your journey

If you put the energy that you put on the roads into anything legitimate, then you'll get somewhere.

'Hood Exit' feels less like a conclusion and more like the first chapter of the journey Kenzo Str8Drop is now beginning to document. Across 12 tracks, he doesn't attempt to distance himself from the experiences that shaped him - instead, he uses them as the foundation for something new.

There's still grit, but there's also progression. There's still the mystery surrounding the artist, but for the first time, Kenzo is allowing more of the person behind the mask to come into focus.

With a new chapter underway and the possibility of the mask coming off on the horizon, Hood Exit offers an insight into where Kenzo has come from, and, perhaps more importantly, where he's determined to go next.

Listen to Kenzo Str8Drop's debut album 'Hood Exit' now.