HIP-HOP might not be something Bucks is particularly famous for, but a Wycombe-based rapper is planning to change all that with the release of his debut video. Kwakz is a rapper with a difference, ditching the hip-hop scene’s fascination for drugs, girls and guns for his own message of living a life "full of purpose."

After problems with drugs, London-born Kwakz became tired of the negative attitudes surrounding him and turned his life around, relocating to Wycombe to go to university in 2010, And after forming his own label Duck Muzic, which stands for ‘Dream U Can Keep’, the rapper is keen to show others the error of their ways through his lyrics.

He said: "A lot of rap music gives out the wrong message, and personally, when I was selling drugs and getting into trouble, listening to that stuff kind of justified the things I was doing.

"It definitely helped lead me down the wrong path, and it got to the point that I couldn’t ever go back to my home town.

"My probation officers told me I was smart enough to go to uni, and I was physically sick of the people and influences around me and I managed to turn my life around.

"That’s one of the main reasons I started rapping, and I’m just glad I got that eye-opener otherwise I could have gone to prison and it’d have been like leaving a fruit to rot."

The 24-year-old artist, real name Jay Duane Bonsu, is celebrating releasing his first video, OTF (Only the Fam) last month, with an EP and mixtape following hot in its heels.

The video was shot in his original home town of South Norwood in south London, but he is also working with Wycombe-based artists and spreading his message around Mickefield, where he now lives.

Kwakz is currently planning a talent contest in association with the Roundhouse youth centre in Wycombe to encourage budding artists to perform.

And the rapper, who studied music management and artist development at Bucks New University, is hoping to stage events in conjunction with schools, as well as raise funds for studio equipment for those wanting to rap.

"Uni changed my life and put me in touch with the right sort of people in the right circles," he said.

"There’s not much of a hip-hop scene here in Wycombe right now but it’s slowly growing, and the more we keep working with the youth the bigger it will get.

"My mum used to say what you rap about is what you’ll become, so it’s all about saving someone else a trip the wrong path like I had.

"Someone’s got to set that example, and the key is to make the music believable so a little kid can listen to it and not even realise the message is deliberately trying to be positive."

You can follow Kwakz and his Duck Muzic artist on their Youtube Channel www.youtube.com/duckmuzik Or to keep up to date with news and shows, follow him on Twitter @Kwak_zino or @DuckMuzik

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