Akala: BAFTA and MOBO Award-Winning Hip Hop Artist, Writer, and Social Entrepreneur; Co-Founder of The Hip Hip Shakespeare Company, and Sunday Times Bestselling Author

You cannot speak on race, social justice, and equity around the world without mentioning AKALA's influence throughout Europe, Australia, Africa and the USA. 

In his Sunday Times bestseller, Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire, the award-winning hip-hop artist, writer, and social entrepreneur pulls readers into an account of how race and class have shaped his life and outlook. In this unique book he takes his own experiences and widens them out to look at the social, historical and political factors that have left us where we are today.

Covering everything from the police, education and identity to politics, sexual objectification and the far right, Natives speaks directly to both the British denial and squeamishness when it comes to confronting issues of race and the global context. 

Eager to hear what Akala had to say in light of the global multi-ethnic anti-racist movement in June 2020, over 750,00 viewers tuned in to his Instagram live in which he discussed the international protests and police brutality. His Oxford Union address is amongst one of their most viewed with 1.9 million views and in his TED Talk, with 1.2 million views, Akala gives a different view of the arts by chronicling the work of The Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company, a music theater production company he co-founded that bridges the world of William Shakespeare and hip-hop. 

Whether virtual or in-person, Alaka's presentations are impassioned and creative, whilst being both deeply personal and rich with history.