Rikesh Chauhan

Rikesh Chauhan (born 5 June 1990), better known by his stage name RKZ, is a British recording artist, menswear writer and photographer, creative and ambassador for Campaign Against Living Miserably.

Not to be confused with Rekesh Chauhan.

RKZ
RKZ modelling a hat he designed with Tom Smarte, 2018
Background information
Birth nameRikesh Chauhan
Born (1990-06-05) 5 June 1990
Luton, England
GenresR&B, Hip Hop, Spoken Word
Occupation(s)Singer, rapper, writer, photographer
Years active2008–present
Associated actsADP, Handbook, TRIAD, Raxstar, Chino XL
Websitewww.RKZUK.com

Career

Music

RKZ began his career in 2008 with Defeat Me being his first notable single, released in 2010. The following year, he released the single Gonna Be That, which was featured as part of the soundtrack for Bashy's film, The Man Inside.[1] The remix featured British Asian rappers AC, Lost Souljah, Swami Baracus, Raxstar and Menis, Kaly, and Waqas Qadri of Outlandish and was debuted on DJ Nihal's show on BBC Radio 1.

In 2012 he released Power Trippin' EP along with the music video for Are You Down. The EP was produced by ADP. Later that year RKZ released Jhené's Song which sampled Jhené Aiko's single, 3:16 am.[2] The Words of Adrenaline mixtape featuring Jhené's Song released in December that year.

On 1 January 2013, he released Superstars. The video incorporated the team members of UK charity, Campaign Against Living Miserably and promoted their 2013 Save The Male campaign. He performed Superstars on BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends with Clive Anderson.[3] In August of that year, he released his EP SOULar which entered the Top 100 R&B/Soul iTunes Chart. He notably performed alongside Raxstar in 2010 and 2011 for BBC London and Manchester Melas, and 2013's Leeds & Reading Festivals for BBC Introducing.[4]

In December 2014 he released the single Visionaries via Roundhouse Radio. In November 2015, RKZ released They Don't Know Nothing featuring American rapper, Chino XL.[5]

In March 2016, RKZ formed a group with producer Handbook and rapper Supreme Sol called TRIAD and they released the eponymous EP via Berlin-based music blog, Stereofox.[6] The following year he released the single, Notes, before taking a break from music. He returned a year later to release singles Magnificent and Impossible, taken from his debut album Visionaries, produced by Handbook, which released in July 2019.

Following the global COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, in April 2020 RKZ teamed up remotely with Handbook to make a new EP called Somewhere In The Afterbeat. The EP consisted of four songs and featured Waqas of Outlandish and Shawn Sanderson - both of whom recorded their vocals at their respective homes in Denmark and England. From conception to release, the EP took under a month to make. It was announced that all sales proceeds would be donated to Campaign Against Living Miserably, whose helpline saw a 37% surge in calls,[7] as well as Savile Row tailors Cad & The Dandy and Huntsman's fundraiser towards the production of NHS scrubs. RKZ shot performance-based music videos to the singles "Run To Me" and "Figure You Out" at his home, and released them on Instagram.[8]

Creative

In 2011, he was announced as an ambassador for the Campaign Against Living Miserably. The charity aims to reduce the suicide rate of men in the UK, particularly London. Suicide is the biggest killer of men in the UK. He contributes to CALM's website and monthly CALMzine as a guest writer, as well as for music blog Sampleface, and menswear publication The Dapper Chapper. An alumnus of University of Westminster, he volunteers as a careers mentor.[9]

Fashion

Working with prominent Indian menswear designer, Saran Kohli, RKZ and Kohli collaborated on a suit collection focusing on the best of their heritage. Using Asian textiles and motifs coupled with Savile Row silhouettes, they debuted both suits from their collection during Men's Fashion Week in London in 2017 and 2018.[10] He was a menswear writer and content creator for Jermyn Street shirtmaker Turnbull & Asser before leaving to join The Rake magazine in 2019.

Discography

Albums and EPs
YearTitleKindLabel
2010Dark Night of the SoulMixtapeIndependent
201121MixtapeIndependent
2012Power Trippin'EPIndependent
2012Words of AdrenalineMixtapeIndependent
2013SOULarEPIndependent
2014Science X SoulMixtapeIndependent
2016TRIADEPIndependent
2019VisionariesAlbumIndependent
2020Somewhere In The AfterbeatEPIndependent

Singles
YearSingleProducerFeatured On
2010"Defeat Me" (feat. Raxstar & Menis)ADPN/A
2010"How Are You"ZitaN/A
2011"Gonna Be That"ADPPower Trippin'
2012"Are You Down"ADPPower Trippin'
2013"Superstars" (feat. Shawn Sanderson)GiftedWords of Adrenaline
2013"Find You"GiftedSOULar
2014"Still Oceans"GiftedScience X Soul
2014"Favourite Song"HandbookScience X Soul
2014"Visionaries"HandbookVisionaries
2015"They Don't Know Nothing" (feat. Chino XL)HandbookVisionaries
2016"Bad"HandbookTRIAD EP
2017"Notes"HandbookVisionaries
2018"Magnificent"HandbookVisionaries
2018"Impossible" (feat. Sonni Mai)HandbookVisionaries
2019"Right There"HandbookVisionaries
2020"Run To Me" (feat. Waqas)HandbookSomewhere In The Afterbeat
2020"Figure You Out"HandbookSomewhere In The Afterbeat
YearSongMain ArtistLabel
2010"This DJ" (feat. MC Rax, Menis, Swami Baracus, Horizon)DJ Dips4Play Recordings
2011"The Other Man"RaxstarDream Warriors
2014"Ego Remix" (feat. Fateh, Tazzz, Badshah, Kaly, Humble The Poet) RaxstarDream Warriors
2015"Touch"EqualsUltra Slump Records
2015"Once Around The Block"HandbookIndependent
2018"A Song I Wrote"BedroomIndependent
2019"Full Tank"RaxstarDream Warriors
2020"Take The Strain"HandbookCascade Records
gollark: I go in arbitrary direction #2 until I find another thing, then.
gollark: ++roll d20
gollark: I distract the shopkeeper and invert the ward, then.
gollark: They just warded a 1$ ice bucket at great expense for no particular reason?
gollark: Are wards that cheap and easy in this universe?

References
  1. "The Man Inside". IMDb.com. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 December 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "BBC Radio 4 - Loose Ends, Clive Anderson, Peter Bradshaw, David Essex, Dean Atta, Giles Coren, Jo Bunting, Keaton Henson, RKZ". BBC. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  4. "Reading + Leeds 2013 - Zaheer". BBC Music Events. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  5. RKZ [@RKZUK] (10 November 2015). "My new single. Get ready for this" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. "Album Review: Handbook x RKZ x Supreme Sol - TRIAD EP". Stereofox.com. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  7. "Donate". Campaign Against Living Miserably. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  8. "RKZ on Instagram: "The first track from my new EP, Somewhere In The Afterbeat. It's available to download for £4 at the link in my bio. All sales proceeds…"". Instagram.com. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  9. "RKZ — About". Rkzuk.com. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
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