Leeds Hip Hop Scene

Akala has been moving his way up the UK hip-hop scene for a while, he initially came through with the gimmick of being the little brother of Ms. Dynamite but as he kept going it was obvious he is a very talented artist in his own right.

He touches on both Hip-Hop and Grime circles after releasing quite grimey mixtape’s entitled ‘The War Mixtape’ and ‘A Little Darker’ with sister Ms. Dynamite. His first album came out in 2006 merging hip-hop lyrics and beats more typical of heavy metal music although this wasn’t what everybody wanted the intelligent and conscientious lyrics shone through.

In Spring Akala put up a track ‘Electro Livin’ on his MySpace, over an electro beat (big surprise there), this had lyrics some lyrics concerning how life in the west completely revolves around electronics but also some normal political messages, pop culture references and good old hip-hop braggadocio. This was the first track off his new album ‘Freedom Lasso’ to be released.

The album stays to this theme of electro music a lot, on some of the tracks it helps but on some it just sounds over the top (Love In My Eyes is a perfect example). One of the best tracks on there is the reflective ‘Where I’m From’ using lyrics from his old freestyles but also reworking them over a quite laidback (compared to the rest of the LP) beat.

This album has some good points and bad points with interesting production and is certainly original but you would wish that Akala would go on and make some honest to god Hip-Hop music instead of messing around with these other genres.

High Points: Electro Livin’

Where I’m From

Something Inside My Head

3/5

Easy1ne!!