Hip hop may have begun in the Bronx and Brooklyn in the late 1970s but by the end of the 1980s its epicentre was Los Angeles - more specifically South Central LA.
In 1988 NWA released Straight Outta Compton and put LA rap on the map and unleashed Dr Dre and Ice Cube upon the world, with Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur to emerge just a couple of years later.
Around that time, a guy in his late teens going under the name Akil was rapping in South Central, but rap was no mere pastime. For Akil it was a way to articulate his anger at the poverty, crime, and lack of opportunities he saw around him.
“During a time that could be compared to the likes of an urban Vietnam, if you weren’t gang banging what were you doing? Rapping, popping, breaking, or writing your name in graffiti on the wall, that’s what,” Akil has said.
Akil was a regular on the LA hip hop scene performing with his group Rebels Of Rhythm. Later they joined forces with Unity Comitte to become Jurassic 5. The new group was picked up by Interscope in 1999 and they released the highly regarded J5 EP, which was followed by the albums Quality Control, Power In Numbers, and Feed Back .
Jurassic 5 are best known for their ‘old skool’ flavoured harmony and uplifting lyrical content, which Akil played a big part in building. Songwriting is one of Akil’s strong points which can be heard in some of their biggest songs, such as ‘Concrete School Yard, ‘Quality Control’, and ‘Thin Line’ with Nelly Furtado.
Jurassic 5 recently called it a day, but as Snoop Dogg said, ‘Hip hop ya don’t stop” and Akil agrees. He is now touring as a solo artist, combining an ‘old skool’ sensibility and approach, with a sound and lyrical content that is also, somehow, contemporary.
Akil will play De Burgo’s on Tuesday November 11 at 10pm. This will be a ‘Róisín Dubh presents...’ show. Tickets are available from the Róisín Dubh and Zhivago.
