In celebration of our latest Nike Air Force 1 ‘Manchester – size? exclusive, we’ve teamed up with three residents of the city to see what it means to them, how they’ve seen it change as they’ve grown up, and how it’s impacted them and their practice.

Born and raised in Moss Side on the South side of Manchester, [ K S R ] has been carefully crafting his sound over the past five years with a string of great EP releases and numerous live performances under his belt. With great talent came great opportunities, and he’s been able to take his music across the UK and Europe to new audiences.

Roosevelt had been singing since the age of four years old singing R&B and Soul, but his more recent journey into music begins with collaborator Time Elijah, who took him down to a studio session one night to give recording a go. A couple weeks passed, and with a keen itch to keep progressing with it he managed to book in time at his local youth centre in Moss Side, the Millennium Powerhouse, where he then smashed out a solid seven hours of experimentation. Self-learning as he went via tutorials and hands-on practice, he slowly learnt the skills to be able to build his own music.

He was always surrounded by people that could rap, but it wasn’t something that he could personally get on with, singing and songwriting was his chosen direction. Growing older and discovering more male singers he was inspired by, his confidence in really becoming a vocalist grew and he felt comfortable enough in his own skin to stand up and really own that skill.

Music never turns off for him. He’s always generating new tracks in his head and being inspired by the people and area he’s grown up in. He’s proud to represent Manchester as an artist, and feels like the cities really getting a look in at this point in time. Great collaborations with locals like Children of Zeus, Abnormal Sleepz and Black Josh definitely add credit to that point.

There’s always been that saying about ‘making music from your bedroom’, but [ K S R ] is literally doing that as he shows us around his lofi home set-up. He talked to us about the enjoyment of being an independent artist and doing things your own way. Being able to record in your room or at the studio, upload it yourself to streaming platforms, and you’re instantly getting attention on your output through the following you’ve generated all by yourself.

From self-made tours by driving across the UK with just yourself and your manager, to performing at Outlook Festival in Croatia, he’s looking forward to getting back out travelling as soon as possible to take his soulful sound further afield.

You can enter the draw for our exclusive Nike Air Force 1 ‘Manchester’ via the size? launches app now; it’s priced at £130 and available in both men’s and women’s sizes. 10% of each sale will be donated to the city’s We Love MCR Charity – ‘Rising Stars’ Fund.