This week on London Reel, we have the English rapper, poet and journalist Akala.

If I didn't go to Pan-African Saturday school, if I didn't grow up in the Hattney Empire,

if I didn't listen to Wu-Tang forever or read the autobiography of Michael X when I was nine, would I be the person I am today?

Probably not.

One too many man that could have been doctors and not spending the whole life boxed up.

Hip-hop was my life. It was something I lived. I loved interacting with it. I wrote lyrics every day. I was in battles. Because to me all they do is breed conflict. First time I saw someone get stabbed, I was 12 and it was a little poke. It was a meat cleaver in the back of a guy's head. of the guy's head. I had other teachers that felt that a person from my racial, cultural, economic background, and certainly from my socio-economic background, should not have been top of the class. These were guys who were doing well in the street, but they'd spent so much of their life in and out of prison, etc. But they were like, you don't want to be like us. You know, you're clever. In fact, if you drop out of school, we're going to give you a hiding. Yeah, they say you are British and that lovely patriotism, they feed you. But in reality you have more in common with immigrants doing with your leaders. If the music is good enough, if the visual is good enough, if your online interaction is decent, you can keep your integrity and have a career. If we're honest, true strength is the strength to be honest., any power structure in the world wants to stay powerful.

London Reel presents

Akala. Knowledge is power.

It's fair. But at 20, you can't admit it's fear.

Welcome back to London Reel.

Looks like this gentleman behind me has a few things he wants to say.

But I'm going to start first.

This week we have rapper, poet, and journalist Akala on the show.

And this is a pretty special gentleman as you guys

have been letting me know this week after I dropped the trailer a few days ago

there's been nothing but love and the comments on YouTube and Twitter are

blowing up and for good reason people are really excited to hear from from this man and to hear what he

has to say about a wide variety of topics you know Akala has been around for a

long time he first burst on the scene in 2006 after he received a mobile

award for his first album and that's that's pretty special to get that and to get a lot of

radio play and he's pretty much gone from success to success along the way but

he hasn't had a traditional music career whatever that is it's funny he

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