Scottish-Jamaican rapper Akala is known for his rapid-fire flow of lyrics, and for pushing his belief that ‘Knowledge is Power’. His début single ‘Shakespeare’ in 2006 set a whole new level for up-and-coming conscious lyricists in Britain. Since then, his Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company has toured schools across the country and his ‘Book Check’ on YouTube channel Grime Daily, encourages hip-hop fans to read up on philosophy and history. Akala spoke to Nigerian musician Seun Kuti, one of the figures at the forefront of the Occupy movement in Nigeria. The youngest son of legendary Afrobeat pioneer and activist Fela Kuti, Seun now leads his father’s former band, Egypt 80.
Akala: Can you explain the title of your latest album, ‘From Africa With Fury’?
Seun Kuti: I coined it from ‘From Russia With Love’. I was thinking from the point of view of a youth in Africa, asking ‘What do we really carry in our heart?’ Hope is overrated! What really drives a man to freedom? You’ve got to have fury. I’m not really talking about anger: anger makes you senseless, so you don’t think. Fury, I believe, is more planned.
