More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Musicians can struggle for decades trying to get their work in front of would-be fans - and despite their best efforts, many never succeed.
But one teen from Gravesend has already found himself in the enviable position of having a hit single and millions of YouTube views to his name.
J1, a student at North Kent college in Dartford, was floored last Friday when his song Latest Trends - a collaboration with musical partner A1 - landed just one place off the top of the UK Official Singles Chart, and number one in the Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart.
A week later and the song hasn't dropped any places, staying ahead of Justin Bieber who came in at No. 3 - a testament to the budding artist's talent.
It would be a huge moment for any musician, but for a 17-year-old with a year of college still ahead of him, the reaction to his music has been overwhelming.
He said: "It feels surreal still, and it's our first release as well. I feel over the moon, I appreciate it.
"I had no idea we'd get this attention at all, I just thought I'd post it on TikTok and see what it does."
J1 quickly noticed people using the 15 second snippet of the track on their TikTok videos, with a quickly mounting list of people asking for the full song to be released.
Using the platform to get your music out there is a technique often attempted among new artists - if enough people use your music on their own videos, you can suddenly have a viral hit on your hands.
After Latest Trends spread across TikTok like wildfire, J1 and A1 decided to release the full song.
Since the music video's YouTube premier on February 19 the pair have stacked up 5.8 million views, and have since even had the single remixed by Mancunian superstar rapper Aitch.
But this near-instant success might not have ever happened if not for the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bored at home during the first lockdown, J1 (then going by his birth name, which he preferred not to share) jumped on Houseparty, an app where you can go into virtual rooms and chat face to face with friends.
There he met future musical partner A1, a 15-year-old who now lives in Coventry.
J1 said: "He was in the room with one of my friends that was a girl, and the first thing he said was go away.
"But I just stayed there for a little bit and conversated with him, and he said he's a rapper and he does music. I went to his Instagram and found he was actually good at rapping, I was shocked.
"We followed each other and we've been talking ever since, and we created a brotherhood."
The pair didn't even meet for the first time until they got together to record a fully-polished version of the track, which was mixed by US producer Shobeatz.
After their quick ascent to success, the Gravesend teen has his sights set on the next target - to perform live at Wireless, the UK's biggest annual hip hop and R&B festival in London.
He said: "I've never even had the facilities to go to Wireless.
"That's my dream - even before all of this my dream was to go and perform at Wireless."
But with music fans across the UK watching them - and a staggering 2.5 million monthly listens on Spotify, no less - the pair have just one focus in the next few months.
"Just loads more bangers on the way."
