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Cashtastic is a rapper who over the years has developed a sizable fanbase, and even a publishing deal with Universal. Seeing his growth and determination to succeed really does prove that hard work leads to triumph…

Now he is in the studio with people like Esmee Denters. “I’m with her now. It’s just music. I’m just experimenting and trying to see what I can do; her vocals are crazy. We met through the label, my A&R just lined it up, it was a good move and I’m enjoying it.”

Speaking on the publishing deal with Universal, a massive step in an artist’s career, we discussed the advantages. “I can access a bigger and wider range of producers and songwriters. Not necessarily better than the ones I had before, but I was limited to what I could do. Evidently, since I’ve signed the publishing deal, I’ve made some massive records that I couldn’t have made unless I was in these sessions with these producers and songwriters.”

He has an EP coming out soon that he says will include “tracks that I had already been working on. It was inevitable I needed to put out a project anyway for the New Year. I didn’t want to do another mixtape so soon, and I haven’t done an EP, so it was the perfect time to get that out.”

Currently also working on his debut album, it’s too early to say exactly what’s in store – but Cash does know one thing. “It will be epic, I hate to sound cliché, but it will be epic. You have to expect the unexpected, it’s going to open a lot of ears and a lot of eyes. It won’t be out this year, for the rest of this year I will be working on it.”

We went back to an earlier phase of his career, to a mixtape he put out called ‘A Lil Bit Of Cash’, which for me was something that really got people talking about him.

“The release of ‘A Lil Bit Of Cash’ was important to me. I always look back at that [and] I don’t regret not embracing it, but I feel like I could have embraced it a bit more. A bit with the Universal deal as well. One thing with me – my gift and my curse – is because I love working so much, I always get tied up in working on the next thing rather than embracing the moment.

“When ‘A Lil Bit Of Cash’ came out, it was a great thing – I was 17 and my CD was in HMV, my music video was playing on BET, MTV… everyone was telling me and I knew it was going on, but I was like ‘what’s the next project, let me work.’”

He gives some advice to other artists about consistency, and that doesn’t mean putting out a track every week, it just means being relevant.

“I think to stay consistent you have to know how to pace yourself. It’s about understanding that your music isn’t enough sometimes. With me, there have been times when I haven’t put out songs but I’m still relevant, because I’m either at this event or doing this show, or I’m on this blog or that magazine. There are times I don’t put out music but it doesn’t mean I’m not working on music.

“With social media, a lot of artists are quite closed with exposing what they are doing, but I feel like that helps with consistency as well; because if you’re not releasing music but you’re on Instagram and Twitter and you’re not giving people something to look forward to, then they’re not going to know.”

We move on to talk about women – as Cash is a bit of a ladies man, I’m sure lots of girls out there want to know what he looks for in a woman. “Obviously I like a pretty woman, but primarily I like a girl with a good personality. I’m very bubbly and I’m not saying a girl has to be bubbly for me and her to be together, but she has to have a sense of humour, because I tell a lot of jokes.

“If I’m telling jokes and she’s not laughing then I’m going to feel unappreciated. I love a girl that has a good sense of humour, dress sense and ambition, and knows exactly what she wants to accomplish in life. Even if she doesn’t know exactly how she is going to do it, just the fact she wants to do something with her life.”

Would he date a fan? “Yes I would. My choice with that may change as my career goes up but at this current moment I probably would. I feel like she would appreciate me.”

So girls, have a sense of humour and make him feel appreciated… oh, and he likes Janelle Monae, Beyonce and Selena Gomez!

*published 25th July 2013