maddog caught up with the out spoken wordsmith Akala at Access to Music in Norwich, on a very hot day in May. He arrived wearing his Illastate records T-shirt (for those who don’t know it’s a union jack in the Jamaican colours and a blatant reference to his culture) and signature shell necklace. I waited for him to finish the chocolate brownie he was eating before I got ready to discuss the new Hip Hop Shakespeare Community; himself as an artist and the origins of his jewellery!

Maddog: So first of all Akala tell us what you’re doing with Sir Ian Mckellen and the Hip Hop Shakespeare Community?

Akala: With Ian Mckellen, I launched the Hip Hop Shakespeare Community, which is, basically, a workshop and theatre company that uses Shakespeare as a backdrop to understand Hip Hop better, and Hip Hop to understand Shakespeare. Referencing the two we put them together in a basket and take workshops out of that. And we retell Shakespeare dramas and stories using Hip Hop.

MD: Ok so how long has that been running?

Akala: Sir Ian came to the launch in February to help start the company.
We toured the workshops with BBC and Blast. But we had the official launch in February and we have a full-blown production of Othello showing at the Lowry this October.

MD: Ok so what are you doing in Norwich today?

Akala: Well I have workshop in Great Yarmouth, so it made sense to come down to talk about poetry in the community. I went on News Night when the Sir Ian thing happened and I have to go back tonight to talk about that.

MD: So in doing some research I found out you started a Jamaican snack shop in Ayia Napa when you were 18, how did you get into that?

Akala: Yes I did! I saw a hole in the market, and I’ve always been interested in business. I’d been playing football at the time.

MD: Was that for Wimbledon?

Akala: Yes Wimbledon, West Ham before that and I looked around and I thought wait a minute, here is the whole of the UK garage scene in Ayia Napa and no West Indian food! So we just did it! It was good fun. Unfortunately, the scene sort of collapsed due to a lot of violence, but I learned more in the 6 or 7 months there than I had the rest of my 18 years.

MD: Ok so any advice for anyone wanting to start a business? Maybe get into music?

Akala: Do what you love; it’s my advice for anyone trying to do anything. If you have the passion for it then do it, life is too short to spend one day doing something you don’t want to, in my opinion.

MD: So Akala, you did the 1st ever Hip Hop show in Vietnam? Is there a big crowd out there?

Akala: It was humongous! There were 3,000 people at one show and 4,000 at another. It was one of the best experiences of my life. The British Council took me over there to represent British arts. On the web I have a video for Comedy Tragedy History, and there’s some footage from it on there so you can get an idea of just how well received it was.

MD: What about the rap tutorial videos you did for the website Now Play It?

Akala: Yes, that was actually the first rap tutorials they have done. The tutorial with Comedy Tragedy History was actually number one on there for six weeks and Guns ‘n’ Roses was number two, showing you how popular it was. I don’t think people realise that a with good rapper – and I’m not even saying I am necessarily good - it’s like an instrument, its not just speaking over a beat, your vowel sounds are like your melody and your constanents are your percussion, and if you know how to contract and expand, and use that, you can make something that sounds rhythmically nice. Like Bone Thugs ‘n’ Harmony, most people wouldn’t be able to understand what they are saying, but it still sounds nice, and Biggie is the opposite end of the spectrum and sounds nice too. It’s all in the way he uses his ‘instrument’, his voice.

MD: So would you say they were some of your biggest influences?

Akala: No! I would say the whole of the Wu Tang. I would go as far as saying I might not even be an MC today if it wasn’t for them. Cuban Links was the first cd that I bought, but WuTang Forever was the most influential. I don’t think I listened to another cd for 6 months.

MD: What about a Wu Tang/Akala collaboration in the future?

Akala: I would be on it, I love the Wu Tang!

MD: So you were in America recently, recording you new album?

Akala: Yes, that’s my third solo album. It won’t be out ‘til next year but we’ve done it.

MD: Any collaborations on that?

Akala: Ahhh, I’m not at liberty to discuss that information (laughs)

MD: You had your 1st recorded track on Ms Dynamite, your sister’s album right?

Akala: No, not my first recorded track, my first released one. I recorded a couple of songs before that. It was actually recorded in Sweden. My
plane was delayed and I ended up in the airport for 9 hours. I still got it done though. I was only 17 then.

MD: So what about a Ms Dynamite/Akala collab?

Akala: We actually recorded a track for my 1st album, we just decided not to release it, because I very much didn’t want to come out underneath my sister. I wanted to be my own person; so we didn’t do any mainstream things together. We will, but the time has to be right, due to artistic necessity rather than for good marketing. I don’t believe in that, I think an artist has to earn that.

MD: What would you say makes you stand out most from other artists doing a similar thing?

Akala: Well, I’m me. I don’t want to be critical of anyone, but there are a lot of guys out there that are trying to play a role, or be something they’re not. I’m just me. I think from the beginning I was writing different songs, and I don’t think this makes it more valid, just different. When I look at other rappers I don’t think that’s my competition. I’m not like that. If I’m aspiring to anyone it’s more towards Sabbath, Zeppelin, Hendrix and Bob Marley. They’re the guys I listen to on a day to day basis.

MD: Right, slightly off topic, I wanted to ask where you got your chain from!

Akala: [laughs] Actually that’s quite relevant. This is from Mali, where I went thanks to a youth group called Bigger Fish. I was out there with Durrty Goodz, Kele la Roc and Dexplicit. I’ve always had a problem with people wearing their big old gold chains, and what’s funny is that when I’m around guys with their platinum chains I see them looking at my shells saying ‘ahhh them shells are tuff’, because what I’m wearing represents culture. These shells represent knowledge and they used to be money in many of the ancient African empires. I think if you’re going to wear jewellery it should be relevant, especially with the open knowledge of the diamond trade it could be seen as a little irresponsible.

MD: Of all your recorded tracks, which has to be your favourite?

Akala: Well it would have to be Carried Away. For me it was the song I wasn’t quite ready to write as an artist, if that makes sense? I can actually play it a bit now on the guitar and in about year I’ll be able to play it properly. It was a song that at the time [it was released on his 1st album] I wasn’t able to communicate properly. Now I think I could, but with that song I don’t think it would be successful ‘til you’re a household name. I don’t think radio stations or TV would play it due to the nature of what’s being said. But that song is my most heartfelt.

With the possibility of a tour this year, a production of Othello at the Lowry in Manchester in October and the new album out at the beginning of next year. We can expect a lot from the prolific rapper Akala in the years to come. You can find Carried Away, Comedy Tragedy History and all of Akala’s music on: www.myspace.com/akalamusic and info on the theatre productions at www.hiphopshakespeare.com

Words > Sekou Abineri
Photos > Andi Sapey