Too cool for school? Not the ‘Shakespeare’ rapper Akala at Ashmount primary

Published: 29 Janaury 2010
by KATTY PEARCE

ARCHWAY rapper Akala gave an inspirational talk to 10 and 11-year-olds at Ashmount Primary school on Tuesday.
The MOBO winner, real name Kingslee Daley, who is often labelled “the black Shakespeare”, appeared as part of the school’s Aspirations programme, which enables pupils to meet people from different professions.
“The best thing my Mum ever did for me was ban me from using the words ‘I can’t’,” he told pupils. “I’ve learnt to say ‘I’m learning how to’ or ‘I’m trying to’. That’s one of the most powerful things anyone’s ever taught me.”
The 26-year-old recording artist and brains behind The Hip Hop Shakespeare Company wowed his audience with a performance of a rap naming every Shakespeare play. He said: “My generation grew up listening to hip hop that had positivity and intellectual content,” he said.
“Something changed in hip-hop quite recently. It’s been lost in a fog of superficiality and misogyny.”
Akala, whose sister is fellow MOBO winner Ms Dynamite, grew up round the corner from the school and began writing lyrics at the age of seven. Akala’s new album, Doublethink, is due out this April.