Telford College music student is a Billboard charts star

A Telford College music student is being tipped for super stardom after attracting the interest of top record labels and seeing his music featured in the Billboard charts.

Kacper Badke – known as Casper – is in the first year of level three music production at the college’s Haybridge campus, but his work has already attracted interest from some of the world’s biggest music studios.

The 16-year-old has racked up as many as 270 million listens in a single a week on TikTok, and begun discussions with Warner, Sony and Universal labels. He is being managed by the sons of legendary composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber.

One of Casper’s latest compositions, Yasashi, has been used by some of the world’s biggest brands including Ferrari, the NBA, ESPN, BMW, and Formula One. It has also been picked up by TikTok megastar Khaby Lame.

His music has already climbed as high as 33 on the Billboard charts, and reached number 17 on the viral charts.

“I was brought up in a family where music was always around,” said Casper, who is English-born with a Polish background and has lived in Telford for the past seven years. 

“My dad does guitar, drums and piano, and mum would be on vocals; they were a little band, and brought me into it.

“I started on the drums when I was in year five, and then in year six I started piano. By year eight or nine I was getting interested in more melodic stuff.

“I was about 12 years old when I first started experimenting with producing, and was self-taught. I set up a YouTube channel and started posting some beats a couple of years ago, but it’s only recently that it’s really taken off.

“I created a new Spotify channel with the aim of creating for a genre called new jazz, where I mix jazz chords with electronic dance music leads, and all of that kind of thing. TikTok just blew it up for me.

“It all feels unreal. You get a major label reach out to you one week and think it can’t get any bigger, then a couple of weeks later another one comes in. It’s like a rollercoaster at the moment.”

The former Ercall Wood student said: “I went along to an open event at Telford College and took a look round the music facilities they’ve got before I enrolled.

“The course is good, and I have developed a really good relationship with the teachers. They’re very supportive, and give me a great opportunity to work on my own stuff, with the flexibility to balance it with my studies.”

Casper – who is releasing material under his CXSPER brand – is currently working with The Other Songs, founded by Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s sons Alastair and Billy Webber, which celebrates songwriters from rising talent to industry icons.

“I want to keep learning on the go, at the same time as being hands-on, and spending time around big producers and artists,” he said.

“I like to think I’m already pretty versatile. I’ve done a range of genres from aggressive house to EDM, R&B, and jazz – I like to bend the rules. It’s music or nothing career wise for me.”

Casper cites South Korean pianist Johan Kim, known for his jazz and blues fusions, as one of his biggest influences.

“My dream is to have my own fanbase, be versatile enough and have the freedom to work with all the top artists in the world – and then go wherever that journey takes me.”

Telford College music tutor Ben Fitzharris said: “Casper already had some excellent production skills when he came to us, and has demonstrated some significant development since the start of the academic year.  

“He had some very impressive streaming numbers when he started college, but he has really taken it to the next level and gained some incredible industry contacts through his excellent productions and amazing social media skills.  

“This has really helped in lessons when discussing the industry, as he is able to comment on his own progress through the industry to give other students his insight into his path into the industry.”

Ben added: “We’re very proud of our track record here at Telford College of helping students on a pathway to musical success.

“Casper is the second student to gain major label interest in the last few years, following on from Nieve Ella who has performed at Glastonbury.

“It’s very exciting to now have a student with us who has managed to get into the Billboard charts!”

Pic: Casper in the music studios at Telford College