Akala (rapper)

Akala (right) in 2009.

Daley got his stage name from Acala, a Buddhist term for "immovable",[16] and started releasing music in 2003 from his own independent music label, Illa State Records. He released his first mixtape, The War Mixtape, in 2004.[17]

In 2006, he released his first album, It's Not a Rumour. This proved to be his breakthrough album, containing the single "Shakespeare" (a reference to his self-proclaimed title "The Black Shakespeare") which made the BBC Radio 1 playlist.[18] His work was recognised with the MOBO Award for Best Hip Hop Act.[19] Additionally in 2006, a mixtape, A Little Darker, was released under the name "Illa State", featuring Akala and his sister, Ms. Dynamite, as well as cameo appearances by many other artists.[20]

Daley appeared for a live session on BBC Radio 1Xtra where he was challenged to come up with a rap containing as many Shakespeare play titles as he could manage, he wrote and performed a minute-long rap containing 27 different Shakespeare play titles in under half an hour and later recorded these lyrics in the studio and turned it into the single "Comedy Tragedy History".[21]

In 2007, Daley released his second album, Freedom Lasso, containing the "Comedy Tragedy History" track. The song "Love in my Eyes" heavily sampled Siouxsie and the Banshees' song "Love in a void" with the voice of Siouxsie Sioux.[22] In 2008, The War Mixtape Vol. 2 was released, along with an EP of acoustic remixes.[23]

Akala at the Hull Jazz Festival 2015.

Daley's third studio album, DoubleThink, was released in 2010, and holds a strong theme of George Orwell's popular novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.[24] DoubleThink contains tracks such as "Find No Enemy" and "Yours and My Children" detailing some of the sights he saw on his trip to Brazil.[25] In November 2010, Daley headlined a live performance at the British Library, to launch the "Evolving English" exhibition and featured performances by British poet Zena Edwards, comedian Doc Brown and British rapper Lowkey which also included Daley taking part in a hip hop panel discussion alongside Saul Williams, U.S professor MK Asante and Lowkey.[26][27] Daley appeared on Charlie Sloth's show on Radio 1Xtra on 18 July 2011, performing "Fire in the Booth", and after the great reception it received he returned again in May 2012 and provided "Part 2".[28]

In May 2012, Daley released a two-part mixtape, Knowledge Is Power, containing "Fire in the Booth", and followed the release with a promotional tour in the autumn of 2012. In March 2013, Daley announced via his social media feeds that his fourth album would released in May 2013, pushing back the future EP The Ruin of Empires to later in 2013. His fourth album, The Thieves Banquet, was released on 27 May 2013, including the songs "Malcolm Said It", "Maangamizi" and "Lose Myself" (feat. Josh Osho).[29]

Akala performing at Blissfields 2015.

In 2007, Daley was the first hip hop artist to perform his own headline concert in Vietnam.[30] He has performed at various U.K. festivals, including V Festival, Wireless, Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds Festivals, Parklife, Secret Garden Party and Isle of Wight, and has supported artists such as Christina Aguilera,[31] MIA,[32] Richard Ashcroft,[33] Audiobullys,[34] DJ Shadow,[35] The Gotan Project[36] and Scratch Perverts on their U.K/European tours.[37]

In 2008, Daley featured at the South by Southwest music festival in Texas [38] and in 2010 he toured the UK with Nas and Damian Marley on the "Distant Relatives" tour, which included the British rapper Ty.[39]

In November 2010, Daley embarked on his own headline tour of the UK, with 20 dates overall.[40] He was present at the "One Love:No Borders Hip Hop" event held in Birmingham, England in April 2011, with Iron Braydz from London, Lowkey, Logic and other up-and-coming UK artists.[41] In August 2012, he performed at the Outlook Festival[42] and in November 2012, he performed at the second edition of NH7 Weekender music festival in Pune, India.[43]

In May 2018, Daley published Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire. The book is part biography, and part polemic on race and class. The overall ideological framework of the book is a pragmatic, socialist-oriented Pan-Africanism that claims to seek the liberation of all humanity from oppression and exploitation. At the same time, Daley highlights what he believes are shared problems faced by African communities worldwide in what he describes as a global system of imperialism.[44]

Daley attributes his escape from poverty not to personal exceptionalism but to the vagaries and chaotic injustice of race, class and privilege. [45] Daley asserts that Britain is not a meritocracy where the barriers of race and class can be simply overcome through hard work and perseverance. He explains his success as the absurd and unexpected consequence of an unequal system that allows the rise of a few while leaving behind the many, no matter how brilliant they are. He claims several times in the book that some of his friends could have been academics or scientists if the obstacles of what he terms 'structural racism' and 'class oppression' had not been there.[46]

Akala has published a graphic novel/comic book called Visions. Akala’s own comic deals with his interests, and references. It's a semi-autobiographical journey into magical realism, which begins with him smashing a television with a teapot, then takes us through altered states of consciousness, reincarnation, hallucinations, and themes of indigenous spiritualities and ancestral memory.

Community organising is core to Akala’s interests and his attention is turned to raising up a new generation of free-thinkers, activists and creatives. He has a children’s book out, that introduces school kids to hip-hop, titled Hip and Hop: You Can Do Anything.

Daley has given guest lectures at East 15 Acting School, University of Essex, Manchester Metropolitan University,[51] Sydney University,[52] Sheffield Hallam University,[53] Cardiff University, and the International Slavery Museum,[54] as well as a workshop on songwriting at the School of Oriental and African Studies.[55] He has also spoken at the Oxford Union.[56] He has also been involved in campaigns to "decolonise" the curriculum including giving a talk at the University of Leicester. [57]

When speaking to schoolchildren or prisoners, or writing lyrics, Daley's message is always to work twice as hard. "My analysis of institutionalised racism is not 'oh, this is an excuse to fail' – quite the opposite. The earlier you're aware of the hurdles, the easier they are to jump over."[11]

Founded in 2009 by Akala, The Hip-hop Shakespeare Company (‘THSC’) is a music theatre production company aimed at exploring the social, cultural and linguistic parallels between the works of William Shakespeare and that of modern day hip-hop artists.

Akala is understood to have been behind a complaint to the BBC regarding political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg's use of the phrase 'nitty gritty,' where he described the use of the phrase as 'structurally racist' and 'eediat ting'. The complaint was dismissed.

• "Welcome to England" (2003)
• "War" (2004)
• "Roll Wid Us" (2005) – UK No. 72[64]
• "Bullshit" (2005)
• "The Edge" (featuring Niara) (2006)
• "Dat Boy Akala" (featuring Low Deep) (2006)
• "Shakespeare" (2006)
• "Doin' Nuffin" / "Hold Your Head Up" (2006)
• "Bit By Bit" (2007)
• "Freedom Lasso" (2007)
• "Where I'm From" (2007)
• "Comedy Tragedy History" (2008)
• "XXL" (2010)
• "Yours and My Children" (2010)
• "Find No Enemy" (2011)
• "Lose Myself" (featuring Josh Osho) (2013)
• "Mr. Fire in the Booth" (2015)
• "Giants" (featuring Kabaka Pyramid & Marshall) (2016)