King’s College now has its own rap society

King’s College London is now the proud owner of one of the first Rap and Hip-Hop societies at a London uni.

Three London locals, Nickil Dhokia (‘N.KiLL’), Suganthan Mahalingham (‘Sugz’) and Zayd Mehdi (‘Grayd’), formed RapSoc to celebrate their love of the genre.

The three third year Dentistry students said: “We all share a similar passion for this kind of music, which is hugely underrepresented at King’s.

“When we first came to university, we were looking for what we have now created. There was something missing.”

N.KiLL, Sugz and Grayd at their Guy’s Campus Event

Nickil says they want to make the society “more about writing and performing lyrics rather than just listening”, allowing anyone at KCL with previously unnoticed talent to finally be given a voice.

They said they are also looking to build the team and are calling on students who share an interest in writing, producing,  sound engineering and photography to become a part of this collective team.

Suganthan said: “We’d love to have them on board.”

Last month, the team hosted their first official public event at the Guy’s Campus Quad.

Around 50 people turned up to hear their music, as well as attend the open mic. Nickil said there was “energy, vibe and coming togetherness.”

The society is planning future open sessions as well as another organised event on the 11th December where they and new recruits will perform a set list.

The group’s figures of inspiration range from Jay-Z and Kanye West to Grime arist Ghetts, as the society is open to both lyricists and listeners of American Hip-Hop and UK Grime.

The group plans to create fortnightly rap sessions where KCL students are encouraged to perform, as well as share and write lyrics – such as N.KiLL’s “Haven’t got a treasurer, haven’t got a president/The RapSoc lot are on top man, it’s evident”.

One of RapSoc’s ‘Spray As You Go’ videos, starring the rapper ‘Tony Montana’

When we asked if they thought Kanye would make a good president, Zayd was very balanced.

He said: “If he’s serious about it, I think somebody with his passion and commitment would be ideal to be in a position like that.”

RapSoc admire Kanye because he “brings people together who have the right skills”, something the society aims to do.

Zayd continued: “Kanye might be a dickhead, but what he embodies is something I want to do – to be confident in yourself and to not settle for anything less”.

The team will be on KCL Radio this Thursday 26th November from 9-10pm. You can like their Facebook page here.