Akala: “Just because you listen to rap or reggae doesn’t mean you respect black people” Interview
Editor's Desk, Interviews, New in Ceasefire - Posted on Monday, December 9, 2013 22:49 - 10 Comments
By Usayd Younis and Adam Elliott-Cooper
Akala: The Ceasefire Sequel (Photo: Usayd Younis)
Known in hip-hop circles for being a voice of resistance, Akala’s new album and tour of the same name, The Thieves Banquet, represents something of an artistic departure.
Taking characters who facilitate imperialism, Akala exposes the hypocrisy of elites through a morbid and gruesome ballad.
While he generally concentrates on the grand issues of structural power and world history, we sat down with him to get his take on the talking points which are linked to them: Lily Allen’s take on womens’ liberation, schools banning ‘urban’ slang, the inquest into the death of Mark Duggan by Metropolitan Police officers, and the spread of the slavery reparations movement, which has now reached the Caribbean.
As always, Akala’s responses ranged across a variety of geographies, histories, philosophical and cultural terrains, displaying his trademark insights and unrivalled intellectual cogency.
For those who missed it, please make sure you check out the first part of our interview.
Usayd Younis is Ceasefire Digital Editor. He is a filmmaker and the director of black & brown, a production company that centres the stories of people of colour. He tweets at @usayd
Adam Elliott-Cooper, a writer and activist, is Associate Editor of Ceasefire and a doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford. His column on race politics appears twice a month. He tweets at @adamec87.
10 Comments
Blunderbuss
Mona
How is he being racist? He makes incredibly well researched, factually-backed statements for every argument he gives and he specifically highlights that the root problem is elitism, regardless of whether that’s black or white elitism.
Adameus
How is this racist? Are you people stupid?
Only a racist person who is in denial would regard Akala’s views as being racist
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[…] Interview | Akala: “Just because you listen to rap or reggae doesn’t mean you respect black people” Monday, December 9, 2013 22:49 – 4 Comments […]
Dr Musab
Akala is 100% correct. Blunderbuss is a supporter of one prominent politician that endlessly uses references to Hip Hop culture while literally being allied to many right wing and zionists ‘stink tanks’ such as the Henry Jackson Society, BFF with Tommy Robinson (founder of the EDL) is the founder of the Quilliam Foundation; Liberal Democrat PPC Maajid Nawaz. He is so far up the behinds of the elites he feeds them secret lists of “suspect” minority communities and even those whites that support them:
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/aug/04/quilliam-foundation-list-alleged-extremism
https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/blacklisted-muslim-quilliam-edl-islamophobia-industry/
Person
Akala is an over-priviledged & over-educated fool.
James
Akala grew up in a council house, on benefits, and doesn’t even have A-Levels.
Fool
a word
Obviously you don’t know how hard it is to get a council place, priviledged he certainly is. It ain’t hard living on benefits if you ain’t a crackhead or a drunk, the worst part about it is having to deal with the incompotent bullies the dwp, & rich people making out that you’re living off of them, but thankfully you rarely bump into those stuck up hypocrites.
Over educated, akala, could be. So he’s read a few books, & can convince some weak minded people to listen to his bigotry to the point the very people he’s smearing are praising him cos they don’t realize it’s them he’s talking about. Clever, no, what’s clever about a fool getting other fools to follow him?
ibi
lmao are you high, you said he’s stupid cos he ain’t got A levels, tell me what do A level prove? that you went to school and learnt a specific list of maths skills. I am sure one could learn such at home and be better than someone who has an A level in maths. Pfft small minded fag
What a racist twat…. history levels A my ass