U.K. rapper, Akala, explained why he started to rap in an American-Jamaican accent before taking his sister's advice and began rapping in his British accent. As an early teen, he adapted to rap like WuTang's own, RZA, who at the time crossed over across the music board and became mainstream in the U.K. "During that era, I use to rap exactly like RZA." He said, "My sister said 'Yo, fam, you need to find your voice. You're not American; stop it."
Although America influenced rap, and most of the top rappers then were American, now, Akala says at least 8 out of the top 10 rappers in the U.K. are Brittish. "When I was a youth, and you asked all the teenagers who your favorite rappers were, all the kids would say the ten would have been American." He explained, "Now if I go into a school, and I say 'who are your favorite emcees? It'd be surprising if more of the top two were from here."
Further into the interview, Akala touches on Shakespeare being Great Britain's "White greatness" at one point, how Wu-Tang kept him in school and gave DJ Vlad a sample of his freestyle on the spot.
Hear Akala's single "Giants" ft. Kabaka Pyramid now on iTunes off of his album 10 Years of Akala released on September 23rd.
Check out the full interview above.
