South East London doesn’t suffer fools lightly. Growing up in Deptford, you learn resilience by default. For rising rapper Richard Sharks, the pressure of his postcode didn’t just build character, it built a sonic blueprint. “It’s pressure, independence, and learning how to carry yourself through real situations,” he explains. Now, he is channeling that raw, grounded reality into a sound designed to cut straight through the noise of the UK rap scene.
The GarageBand Epiphany
The genesis of Sharks’ artistry wasn’t a sudden burst of teenage bravado, but a quiet, iPad-lit obsession. Introduced to GarageBand at a primary school convention, he spent his formative years building beats and mixing sounds in his bedroom. But the confidence to step up to the mic eluded him.
Instead, he took the long way round: securing a university degree in product and industrial design, and later launching a barbering business. “I told myself I was going to be the coldest, build a brand, go viral,” he reflects. “But deep down, I knew it wasn’t me. When I walked away from that, I hit a point where I felt lost for the first time.”
The turning point was entirely cinematic. Watching an artist effortlessly lay down tracks with a producer on TV, the missing piece finally clicked into place. “It hit me instantly: this is what I’m meant to do. I’d been doing it since I was a kid, I just never believed in myself enough to go all the way. Now I do.”
An Antidote to the Over-Complicated
Musically, Sharks sits at the intersection of Dave’s piercing storytelling, Central Cee’s relentless energy, and the vulnerability of Drake. But he’s acutely aware of where his peers are going wrong. For Sharks, the current scene has become too tangled in its own web.
“A lot of artists focus too much on being overly lyrical or complex, and they forget the actual sound of the song,” he points out. “Hooks aren’t as strong or memorable as they used to be.”
His antidote is simple but devastatingly effective: undeniable, catchy hooks grounded in heavy subject matter. He creates anthems that demand to be sung along to on TikTok or Snapchat, yet carry enough weight to stick with you long after the app closes.
Cinematic Ambitions
What truly separates Sharks from the relentless churn of emerging UK talent is his lived experience. Because he embraced the microphone later in life, he isn’t rapping about surface-level fantasies. He’s an innate observer studying energy and behaviour, and his bars tackle heartbreak, jealousy, and the brutal realities of growth.
He understands that in today’s visual-first culture, the aesthetic is just as important as the audio. If his music were a movie, he says, it would be a dark, cinematic thriller: “Black backgrounds, strong lighting, serious expressions. A figure carrying weight but still standing.”
Ultimately, Richard Sharks wants his listeners to feel an overwhelming sense of strength. Whether navigating the grind, the pain, or the pressure of everyday life, his tracks are built to be the soundtrack for pushing forward.
“Money Hungry is the beginning of the King Richard journey,” he declares. “A story of struggle, resilience, and turning pressure into power.”
Watch Money Hungry
https://youtu.be/dca6jKFTnlo?si=ZsGA190-rsHAYI_k
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