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The Real Story of KiD CROOK: Perth’s Most Unfiltered Hip-Hop Voice

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Step inside the world of KiD CROOK, Perth’s most authentic voice in hip-hop, in this explosive, no-holds-barred episode of the BeatsToRapOn podcast. From the gritty backstreets of Western Australia to the stage lights and streaming platforms, KiD CROOK’s journey is nothing less than a real-life redemption story.

Raised on the rough edges of Perth and forged in the fires of struggle, CROOK’s story isn’t just about music—it’s about survival, resilience, and raw transformation. After years spent in and out of the system, CROOK found a way to turn the chaos and pain into a message—one that hits harder than any beat. His new project, ‘tha Bad Guy EP’, is more than a collection of tracks; it’s a confessional, a rally cry, and a living document of his battles, his growth, and his hopes for the future.

What’s Inside This Episode?

This is not your average artist interview. In this episode, you’ll hear CROOK lay it all out:

  • Surviving the Streets: The real challenges of growing up in WA, facing prejudice, and how his Hispanic roots shaped his sound and perspective.
  • Prison Bars to Rap Bars: How time behind bars and a lifetime in the underground scene forged an unbreakable work ethic—and a raw, honest sound.
  • The Creative Process: How CROOK writes, prepares, and finds beats that match his gritty, chopper-style flows—plus stories about writing entire EPs with no access to a studio or even a beat.
  • Big-Name Collabs: Hear about his experiences opening for legends like Onyx and Snack the Ripper, and why he’s obsessed with lifting up other voices from his city and beyond.
  • Mental Health and Authenticity: CROOK shares his struggles, the lessons he learned, and why every bar is rooted in real, lived experience—never fake, never fronting.
  • Exclusive Bars: Hear him drop a raw, unreleased verse live on the show.

CROOK’s Latest Releases & Where to Listen

Check out KiD CROOK’s music on all major platforms and get the full story behind the ‘tha Bad Guy EP’ and upcoming album ‘Carte Blanche’.

Connect with KiD CROOK

CROOK isn’t just about streaming numbers—he’s about building a real connection with fans. Follow, comment, and reach out:

Discover More

  • Explore new Australian hip-hop, rap, trap & R&B on BeatsToRapOn.com—your home for rising stars, exclusive beats, and unfiltered stories straight from the scene.
  • Check CROOK’s featured artist page for the latest tracks, interviews, and upcoming events.
  • Dive into exclusive artist interviews and discover how real hip-hop is built from the ground up.

Why Listen?

If you want to understand the real landscape of hip-hop in Australia—no sugar-coating, no fake flex—KiD CROOK’s voice is the one you need in your playlist. His story is proof

The whole rap scene and things like that in Australia has just taken off. And today what we have is we've got a very special guest here. We've got CROOK, epic rapper in the Australian scene. CROOK, over to you. Introduce, what's good, man? How's life treating you and what's going on? What's happening, man? KiD CROOK from Australia. I'm from Perth. Fair bit going on. Life's treating me all right. I've been staying out of jail. I've been staying out of trouble. So that's major for me. That's big for me as well, trying to stay off the street and stay with my family and show them the right way. So yeah, actually, yeah, a lot's going on and life's treating me good, actually. That's awesome, CROOK. That's awesome. So the rap scene and hip hop scene is really ramping up here. You're getting big. I think I'm hearing your name across the place is starting to blow up, which is super exciting. And thanks so much for being on the Beats The Rap On podcast. We're super stoked about that. So maybe we can just start off with people trying to get to know you a bit. So, you know, what's the first thing you think that people should know about you that they don't know already? Well, the first one is, like I said, I'm from Australia, but I've actually got Hispanic background. So my parents, they're from South America. So, yeah, we've lived in Australia long time, long time. I grew up here. And yeah, a lot of people don't know that about me. They actually, a lot of people think I'm indigenous, you know, so the way I talk as well, I grew up with them. So, but yeah, going back to the music, I've been rapping for a long time, but since being in and out of jail, in the streets, getting into trouble, I never really got to release my stuff out. So now I'm putting the consistency in and putting that work in. When people who aren't from Australia think about Australia, you know, they think about all the kangaroos and stuff like that. Do you have many kangaroos over your, tell them a little bit about that. Like what's going on there? Oh, well, we got kangaroos, but it's not like you just see them randomly jumping around the streets and in between cars and that. Like it's in the bush. So you kind of have to go out of your way to see kangaroos. You know what I mean? Certain areas they might jump out onto the road, but to be honest, it's very rare, man. It's really rare. So it's not like these massive kangaroos that you see on YouTube, like, you know, the people watching this from all over the world. There's some big motherfuckers out there. Yeah. They'll fight you straight up. They'll fight you. We've seen some of those on, you know, I don't know whether you're interested to hear it, just smash the like button, drop some comments down there. You know, if you guys have been in a fight with a kangaroo or seen a kangaroo, you know, that would be interesting. So just coming back to the music and you. So, you know, Cook, if you can like, you know, take us back a little bit and kind of run us through, you know, what was your first experience with music and yeah, when did you first get into all of this stuff? Oh, long time ago. I was about, I'm 35 now. So I first started rapping with my brother. I started getting into me. We started beatboxing, you know, we kind of went through the five elements, like the beatboxing, the graffiti, the breakdancing, emceeing and the DJing. So we first started rapping when we was about, I must've been about 10 when I first started rapping, but I used to rap like music. I used to listen to, I used to memorize the verses off that and then rap that. So that's how I started. And then off that, I learned how to write a bit and then got my own flow, got my own techniques. And yeah, man. So yeah, since I was 10, so that's a good 25 years. Now, when you go into this, at some point you think, you know what, this is more than a hobby. This is kind of like what I am, what I want to give to the world. Did you have that experience? Tell us, tell us about that. Yeah, man. Cause where I'm from, hip hop is, it's big, but there's not platforms here to push the music out. You know, so I've always wanted to do rap and then from there eventually build something to help other people that's been in my position that's never really had to check the help to push your music out, you know? So that's a bit of a struggle being from where I'm from. And anyone that's from here will tell you that, like they don't even play hip hop on the radio and stuff. So you know what I mean? So that's kind of what made me want to do what I want to do. So I can like put a footprint out there, but yeah, man. And how old were you when you realized that like, you know what, this is not a hobby. This is like me. This is what I want to do. From 10, I'd probably say about 15, 14. That's when I took it a bit serious. Oh wow, so you were really early. Yeah, really early. And then when I was about 17, that's when I started like landing a few gigs and meeting more people. And to me, the scene was big. I felt like I was big in the scene back then, you know what I mean? There was a bit more going on back then with the scene and then I went to jail and then that scene was disappeared, you know? So yeah, man. Tell us about that scene, like tell us about those formative years, you know, what were some of the awesome things that you were putting down? Oh, I had a mate. He was running a studio called Galactic Studio. It was in Birdswood, right next to the casino. So it was a pretty busy area. He had like an indie label, which we were signed to as well. So he was arranging all these gigs and rappers from America were coming over. We were getting the opening acts for them and stuff. So like all of that's a massive highlight for me, you know, because it's not something that happens every day. It's not something you can just go and do. So yeah, they were massive highlights for me. Like I've got photos there on my webpages and stuff, but I'll never forget them things, you know, like performing up on that stage and opening up for the person you're going to open up for. It's a big feeling, you know? Tell us more about that, man. I'm just talking to you now and I see your eyes just lighten up when you're talking about. What was that feeling? Oh, that feeling was amazing. It was the best. I'm telling you now, it was the best. Because like I said, when I got out of jail, that wasn't there anymore. So it was like from being at a peak and then starting from down here again, you know? So yeah, it was wicked. It was wicked. And the people I met as well, like some people I'm still in touch with, music, other rappers and stuff I'm still in touch with. But oh man, some of my best years, it's just the only thing that sucks was my state of mind and what I was doing at the time, it didn't pay off for me. So that's the only downfall of that. And when you were up there, tell us some of the openings like you were doing and what sort of tunes that you were throwing down, some of the bars you were punching in with? My style was dark. My style was dark, gritty street. I like to rap about what actually happens in Perth. Not many people do that. I like to actually rap about where I'm from and what I've done and what I've seen and what I've gone through, you know? So yeah, one of the big ones was Snack the Ripper. He's a Canadian rapper and he was pretty much new in the scene and he toured with Onyx. They're legends, you know? So I think it was a 30-minute set I did. That was pretty big. And even after that, jumping back into the crowd and having people coming up to me, I felt like a superstar. It was the best. So good. What preparation did you do? When you do that, I don't know. I would be scared shitless, to be honest. I'm not like you guys. I don't know how you guys do this magic. What's the preparation that you go through before something like that? Oh, me? I like to prepare by myself. I like to isolate myself, memorise all my lyrics, rap in the mirror, rap on the camera, record myself, look at my movements, and then learn off myself instead of watching someone else and learning off them, you know what I mean? I like to learn off myself. So that's my preparation stage. When I get lyrics or write my lyrics, I like to memorise them within... As soon as it's done, it's memorised. I don't like reading off lyrics, reading off pages and stuff. So yeah, man. Do you have a ritual you do before you get on there? Some people go, they do things. We're the same undies, I don't know. Pray, man. Pray to him. Yeah. Pray to him. Yeah. Yeah. Nice. Yeah. No, it's a good... I mean, if you've got something to do, that's a good one to do. Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah. What were some of the biggest influences for you when you were growing up that influenced you around your style? Musically, I like the fast shit. So it was always Bone Thugs, Twista, and then from then... But I also like the old school boom bap, Mobb Deep, Onyx as well. I love that Wu-Tang. It was always that, but preferably the faster stuff. And then from there, I learnt a bunch of fast rappers, but they're not mainstream because that music doesn't blow up. So we call that fast style chopper style. We call that chopper rap because it's like a gun when you rap. You know what I mean? So it's called the chopper style. So that's my style. And then, yeah, I've been influenced through, still to this day, Tech N9ne, Twisted Insane, King Iso, all the strange music, Ritz, Yellow Wolf, all of that still to this day. And there's some good stuff there. Do you want to punch in with a couple of bars or I'm sure someone wants to hear some... You dropped some. Do you want to drop some now? I've got something here right now. Yeah. So this is actually a feature I've got with but it's just my verse. I'll show you my verse because my mate's in jail at the moment, so it's not going to be out for a while. So I'll just give you a little look at that. All right. Okay. I never put my hands up. I'd be down for the action. Now I'm handcuffed up in the back of a padded wagon. Pants sagging and maybe a warrant in the game. If you haven't spoke about me, then you must have heard the name. Ain't shit changed. The kid's still down to rap. I ain't just a rapper. When you step, you better come correct. Dust the neck. I'm about to check and I don't waste time. Boy, I got the weed to get them high, make them waste time. I'm always taking shit that ain't mine. Great minds think alike and now we're bound to rob them at the same time. Something like that. You put me on the spot, man. Oh man, that is so good. I was just trying to think like we just need some really fat beats to just drop behind that, you know, just to light up those tunes. Of course, man. Of course. The beats, to me personally, it's hard finding beats because I only like certain beats. If someone just throws beats at me, I'm very, very picky. If they throw a hundred beats at me, I'll probably pick two out of those hundred. I'm very picky with my beats. I like a certain style. It has to sound a certain way. Do you work with sound engineers to get those beats or how do you land on the ones you like? I land YouTube and I buy them before they sell. Because it's happened to me before where I've liked a beat, I've written to it, I've gone back to buy it and it's sold. It's like, oh fuck, I should have bought it straight away. So I've had to rearrange that old song, rewrite that old song, find a whole new beat. Oh man, it's a nightmare when that happens. Do you ever work with anyone? Are there folks around your area or back in the day, did you ever work with studio, I don't know, audio engineers or anything or producers or stuff like that? Yeah, I've been to this guy called Andrew Wright. But when I used to go to him, it was called Gold Dust. He does really well now, but it's not really on the hip hop side. So I've found this new guy called Daunt, Daunt on the beat, Daunt Studio. Shout out to Daunt. Shout out to Daunt, man. Go give him a follow. He's on Instagram. I'm pretty sure he's on Facebook. But yeah, wicked guy. I've been working with him. So I've been seeing him going to his studio, working with him. He's been trying to, not trying to, he's actually looked into my style a bit. So now when I go there, he kind of knows what to do without me saying it. So good things should come from there. How much do you like punch in on the spot versus like drop bars that are kind of pre-written? It depends. If it's fast, I might have to punch in once or twice because sometimes my breath will just, but sometimes I'll get it one go. Sometimes it's the slow ones I have to punch in more because I'm not used to the slow ones. Yeah. Yeah. It could be different. Sometimes I might get a one take, two takes. Sometimes I might punch in a few times. It depends on the date. Was there like a defining moment where you knew you had something special that, you know, like people wanted to hear? Yeah. When people weren't saying I was whack, when they weren't saying I was shit, when they were actually saying I was good, they actually wanted to hear more. They were asking me, when am I going to release my own stuff? When am I going to drop videos? So stuff like that, that's what made me realize. Yeah. Nice. And did that happen when you were or like, was that like later on in life? Like when, when, when, when, yeah. Nah, I'd say younger. Yeah. Probably around the 15 mark, 15 year mark. Really? 15? How good is that? So you're like, you're like dropping some flows and you're 15 and you already know. I mean, like honestly, that's pretty, that's pretty good. Normally like a lot of people have to just take a long time. I think that's the difference between a natural like yourself and maybe someone who's learning the skill. Yeah. Do you think? Yeah, of course. Of course. And a lot of people that I grew up with that were rapping from back then, they're not rapping to this day because it's hardier. Like I was saying, like you get so far and you know, you're not going to get, you're only going to get so far in Perth, in Australia. You know what I mean? Over where you are, Sydney, they're popping off a bit more. They've got a bit more going on, but Perth, we're really behind. WA is really behind. Before you even kind of get to that, there's like this whole creative process that everyone goes through, right? And it's different to everyone. You know, I'd love to hear what that is for you, you know? You mean as in like when I'm writing a song or something? Yeah. Yeah. Like what's that whole creative process, you know, you go through? Man, I hate writing songs. You know why? Because I'll find a beat and I'll fuck with it, you know? So I'll get into writing straight away, but sometimes I'll get writer's block within two lines. I'll move on to another beat. I'll get writer's block within after the first verse. So then I go back to this one and it's like, nah, this one's not working. So I have to find a whole new beat to try to overcome these two. And then, so that's my writing process. And that's no word of a lie. Sometimes it can take me weeks to write one song. It take me weeks to write two verses, but it'll get done. I'll make sure it's perfect, you know? Yeah. Nice. Is there one that's just like, you know, 30 seconds and it's like, it's out? I think the fast ones are the features or if, yeah, if I'm a feature or if I'm doing a song with someone, I think they're the fast ones where it'll just come to me because we're kind of bouncing off each other. So it kind of makes it where we're putting ideas in together. We're both contributing. So yeah, they're the fast ones. Oh, nice. And when you're doing that, do you like freestyle much or is it, you know, when you bounce off each other? Yeah, well, it pretty much is all freestyle when you're bouncing off each other because you're just letting the beat play and you're, oh, we'll do this. Oh, this is what I come up with. You'll wrap it to him and you'll quickly try to go off his last word or, you know what I mean? Do you like try and throw in a bit of diss every now and then? Yeah, of course. And me and one of the boys actually writing one right now, it's not diss, but we're kind of like making it slightly funny where we're just saying dumb shit about ourselves and just calling ourselves names and stuff like that. So it's kind of like dissing ourselves, you know? Yeah. It's always good. It's always good. It's hard to do, you know, like not many people can do that and especially so fast, you know? How do you kind of know when to say, right, I'm ready to drop in and, you know, create track out of this? When I'm happy with it and when I want to keep listening back to it and listening back to it without knowing there's nothing to fix. Knowing I'm happy with every part of the verse, knowing I'm happy with the transition from the verse into the hook, from the hook back into the second verse, knowing I'm happy with all of that. That's when I know the song's done. That's so good. And like the hardest part of creating music that people don't see, what do you reckon the hardest bit is for you? Starting it off. So for example, starting the song off by yourself, starting that shit off. To me, that's hard. Yeah, starting it off, that's hard. But then also finding the time as well is hard because I'm a dad to two kids and even just finding the time to do music, it's a bit of a struggle as well, you know? Because yeah, it seems to be like a lot of lessons that you learn real quick that hurt. You know, what do you reckon some of the biggest ones are that you've learned in being in the music industry? Fuck, not everyone's your friend. Not everyone's your friend, man. Not everyone wants your best interest as well. So those two, they're the only biggest ones. I don't think there's nothing else above that. Yeah, right. And like, has stuff happened to you through that or? Not necessarily, but I've seen it. I've seen it done to people and it hasn't happened to me. It's come close to, but I'm a bit too smart for that. What's one mistake you see upcoming artists kind of making? Consistency. Consistency is key. Even though sometimes you find it hard to find the time, but consistency, even if you write two liners, three liners, four liners here and there, that's that consistency. You can mix all those together later on. You can find something there, you know? And also another thing I want to shout out is rappers that haven't lived it, and they try and rap about it. Don't do that. Don't do that. Because some of us have lived it and we've never seen you there. So don't do that. Yeah, because you're right. Because like, there's probably like an authenticity thing is in there as well. It's like, it's difficult to be honestly authentic if you haven't kind of had those emotional experiences. Is that what you were kind of thinking of when you said that? Of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And how do you feel those emotional experiences come through your raps and tunes? Man, I pour my heart. Sometimes I pour my heart on those songs, you know? Like recently I dropped, I think the last song, the second last song I've released, it was called Save Me. I did it for mental health awareness month. So that was a pretty deep one. I poured my heart on that one. You know, I wear my heart on my sleeve, but my heart's on that page, man. So that's a good song. I like that song. That's pretty deep for me anyway. Yeah. Wow. Is that up? Yeah. Where can they find that tune, by the way? Oh, I'm everywhere. I'm through Distro Kid, so I'm everywhere. Real Kid Krook. Awesome. Or just Kid Krook. It's the same everywhere. So go shout out Kid Krook. Crack open a browser. Go check it out now. Yeah. Give us a follow. Give us a follow. I'm also on TikTok. I'm trying to hit 1K followers so I can start going live. Let's do it, baby. Smash that button. That's gold. No, that's really good. Tell us about, you know, what you're doing now, what's on your mind, you know, what you're super pumped about, you know, like what do you want to get out there? Oh, man, I'm super pumped about this podcast right now. I'm real humble about that. Yeah. And I'm actually working on another album at the moment. It's almost ready to drop. I'm just waiting on a few features and just get mixing mastered. But it's actually a 10 track album. I'm going to drop that probably in the next month or so. I've got another EP mixtape I'm going to drop, but it's actually an old one of my oldest stuff. So that's called Dead Records. I'm going to release that. That's a collab with me and my brother. So that's actually dope. That's dope, that one. It's still got a new sound, even though it's old, it's still got that fresh sound that can blend in with today's sound. Tell us more about this one that's dropping. You don't have to tell us everything, but, you know, use this platform because it will go on all the other platforms. So my last EP, it was called The Bad Guy EP. I only uploaded that two months ago. I think that's a six track EP. The funny thing about that, I wrote all those songs in jail to no beat. And then when I got out of jail, I had to find the beats. So that was a massive challenge and it ended up working. I ended up finding the perfect beats for all these songs and it ended up working out really, really good. But anyway, this next album I'm dropping is actually a 10 track album, not a little EP. It's going to be an album. Mad features on there. I love putting people on. I don't like just having to shine. If I find my talent, they're getting put on as well. So that one's going to be called Carte Blanche. Carte Blanche means like freedom, free to say anything you want, free to do anything you want. Cause that's how I'm feeling right now. I feel like I've broken the chains. I've gotten that weight off my shoulder. So this name is perfect for that album. Yeah. Like I said, it should be here within a month or two. Keep a lookout for that one. It'll be everywhere. Like I said, Distro Kids. So every streaming platform you can think of, it's going to be on that. So what are you going to do? Are you having a bit of a launch party or something like that? I mean, you know, so first of all, after it drops, we're definitely going to do another interview if that's all right, because I want to hear all about it. And I think actually, if everyone can also check the Beats to Rap On website, cause CROOK will be on now. You can check him out as a featured artist. He'll be, just hit the homepage there. You can see him there and then go to his profile. So tell us, tell us a little bit about the launch party. Is there, you're having a launch party somewhere? Is there somewhere you can send your fans? What we're doing for that? So I don't have a launch organized, but I do want to do one. I'm actually getting my foot back in through the door doing gigs and whatnot. I've actually spoken to a guy who's, who does gigs. So I'm trying to link up with him and get my foot back in, get my name back out there properly and yeah, get on stage and fuck I'll rock that shit. I'll honestly rock that stage. Blowing up. So have you got many people? Is it just you in there or did you bring some other rappers in there or tell us a little bit about what we're going to expect? Yeah, there's going to be mad rappers on there. One of my boys that just got out of jail, he's going to be on there. There's going to be a few international features on there. The Spanish guy, he's viral on Facebook at the moment. He's not, he's not like a rapper or anything on the, on the radio stations. He's just a viral rapper on, yeah, on Instagram and stuff. So I'm going to get him as a feature, which is fucking mad. My last EP had Suess Mace on there. I don't know if you've heard of him. He's from Kansas. He's he's gone. He's viral at the moment. He's doing big things. So yeah, I like to get my name out there. I like to put, I like to do it properly. I like to put the OGs on, you know what I mean? Yeah, absolutely. Is there any shout outs that you want to do to any of your boys? Sorry. I want to shout out my boy, Diggy Dialect doing big things as well in Perth, Australia. He's from Guam. He's living in Australia. Should check out our songs together. We absolutely flip shit fast as fuck. He's got a mad style. I'm trying to push him to do more shit than he can do at the moment. I want to shout out my other boy, Dodgy Wodgy, Simsie. I'm trying to put him on, trying to get him up in the scene. He's the one that just got out of jail recently. I want to shout out my brother. Go give him a follow. Tattoo artist out of Perth, Australia. The best in my eyes. Don't go anywhere else. Get your tattoos. Go to Chris, my brother. Cartel Renaissance at Leaderville. Yeah. Did you have anything else on your mind that you wanted to maybe talk about? Oh man. I've got something, but I can't talk about it because it's something I'm working towards. So it's going to be... We're all on the edge of our seat now. It is going to be maddening, but actually I can shout out one more person. Gary Griffin. He's starting up a podcast. It's called The Sober Truth. It's for recovering addicts that have been through the system, been through the streets, been homeless, been through the struggles, been through all of that, foster homes, everything, all of that. So keep a lookout for that one. That's coming up on TikTok and Instagram. Sorry, The Cold Truth, not The Sober Truth, The Cold Truth by Gary Griffin. So go give him a follow and that's going to pop off. That's going to be massive, that one. Gary Griffin for everyone. Go check that out. Gary Griffin, check it out, The Cold Truth. It will be available in about a week or so. Go check it out. Details down in the description. Also smash that like button and also make sure you check out CROOK. It is going to blow up. It is going to be huge. That is awesome. Now, is there particular platforms that people can find you on? I know we said there's a few out here. Do you have a Facebook? Do you have a TikTok? What is your TikTok? What is your Facebook? What are you doing? How are you ramping it up? What do you want the fans to know? All right, Facebook, that's probably my biggest one at the moment. That's probably the one that blows up at the moment, my Facebook. At The Real KiD CROOK on Facebook. Instagram, at The Real KiD CROOK. TikTok, at The Real KiD CROOK. Spotify, the same. YouTube, the same. They're probably the main ones I use. Yeah, but Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, the main ones I use. Like I said, I'm trying to get to 1K followers on TikTok so I can start going live. I'll start interacting with everyone that wants to interact with me. I interact with all the comments. If you leave comments, I interact with everybody. I'm not funny like that. I'll talk to everyone. If you message me, I'll message you back. Boom. You've heard it here first on a Beats to Rap On platform, baby, where we are becoming the ecosystem to blow this whole culture up. So that's it. That's for Beats to Rap On this time. CROOK, any last comments before we wrap it up? Man, I appreciate it. Man, it's all love. I appreciate that big time. I had a great time. It was nice meeting you as well, and I look forward to working with you more. That's awesome, CROOK. Thanks very much, and we'll catch you guys later.