Akala
Rapper, writer and activist
Akala is a British rapper, writer and activist whose book Natives looks at race and class in Britain, drawing on his own life.
1 summary 22 min of listening
British Born 1983 in London, United Kingdom
About Akala
Akala, born Kingslee James McLean Daley on 1 December 1983, is a rapper, writer and activist from London. He was voted Best Hip Hop Act at the MOBO Awards in 2006 and has appeared on the Powerlist of influential Black British people. He founded the Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company, a theater company that explores links between modern rap and Shakespeare's writing. The University of Brighton gave him an honorary doctorate in 2018. His book Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire came out in 2018 and blends memoir with argument about race in modern Britain. He has also given guest lectures at a number of universities and spoken at the Oxford Union.