Parked Up in the Elephant

London is full of talented musicians, but only a few of them ever make it past the ‘up and coming’ stage.

South east London boy Josh, a rapper and producer known as Parked Up, is aiming to one of those few. He hails from Elephant and Castle, and has been into music ever since he was a young boy.

Josh told me: “My dad used to own a small recording studio in the area as well as a house music record label, and he would always take me and my friends Malzo and Fraser, who now produce with me as well, with him to work. I remember how amazed I was by all the options you could explore with sound.

“My dad would show me some really cool stuff, and I just knew making music was what excited me. Unfortunately, my dad had to close the studio a few years later, but I promised myself that one day I would open my own one here at Elephant, too. Later, I started playing the  guitar and the piano, and I became devoted to music.”

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Although his dad helped him a lot, Josh had to work hard in order to pursue his dream.

“I loved making music but, at the same time, my parents wanted me to go to college and I had to find a part-time job, too. 

“I studied creative advertising at London South Bank University and worked at Uniqlo. Both were very time-consuming and I had almost no time to do what I loved.

“After two years I decided to quit my job and fully focus on making music. Now, two years later, and I can say it was the best decision I ever made.”

When asked what influences his work, he simply says the main things are home and various experiences he had in life.

“We are a big family, and growing up with all my siblings in an old council house could get really harsh. We did not have much money, but my parents tried hard to give us all we needed, and that is what I’m thankful for the most. That is what inspires me every day.

“Then it would be probably either traumatic experiences or on the other hand something very positive. It could be literally anything. I could walk into the Elephant and Castle shopping centre and write a song about it the next day.

“It’s very interesting what you can notice if you take a proper look around yourself – people, love, hate, jealousy, anger. It can be quite inspiring.”

Josh has now released quite a few songs now, and his latest single was signed to Sony, which he sees as a huge success. You can also find his music on Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud and YouTube.

‘It’s very interesting what you can notice if you take a proper look around yourself – people, love, hate, jealousy, anger. It can be quite inspiring’

“I can see that hard work is really starting to pay off,” says Josh, excited about his contract with Sony. When asked about his future plans, he answers: “I would like to open my own record label and recording studio here in this area and look for new talents, as well as continue producing more music.

“There is so many young people here that I have known since I was a kid and that have a talent for music but no resources. I want to help them so they can do what they love to do, just like I did when I was a kid.”

Hard work definitely pays off, and Josh is seemingly on the right path to becoming one of those up and coming talents who achieve real and lasting success.