![]() ![]() His theatre company seeks to tackle prejudices and politics, and to give a voice to those often marginalised in society, whilst also understanding how Shakespeare and hip-hop both reflect and shape their times, ideas, and attitudes.Īkala's award-winning book Natives offers an analysis of structural racism and class oppression in contemporary British society. He spent most of his free time at the Hackney Empire theatre where his stepfather was a stage manager, and later he attended a pan-African Saturday school, developing his understanding of Britain’s problematic relationships with race, class and ethnicity.Ĭhanneling his creativity into music and poetry, Akala's work considers themes of race, politics, poverty, social conditioning, identity and self-deception. Despite the discrimination and obstacles he endured in education, Akala’s intellectual curiosity wasn't dimmed, but was encouraged by a culturally rich life outside school. He is the founder of the music theatre production company The Hip-hop Shakespeare Company and the author of Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire.ĭespite being in the top 1% of his GCSE year, Akala was placed in a special educational needs group and from a young age faced the reality that he would experience life very differently to his white classmates. ![]() ![]() Kingslee Daley, better known by his stage name Akala, is a rapper, writer, activist, poet and social entrepreneur. ![]()
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