'Comedy Tragedy History’ is the second release from Akala's critically acclaimed second album ‘Freedom Lasso’, and is out the 7th April on Illa State records. True to form, Akala spits furious lyrics set against a relentless electro sample from Baxter Baxter’s ‘Straylight’, with an orgy of genre defying demonic beats straddling everything from drum‘n’bass to nu-rave, delectably seasoned with a live string quartet and live drums, whilst playing homage to literary genius Shakespeare.The track began life last year when Akala was challenged live on air on BBC 1Xtra’s Twin B show to come up with an impromptu freestyle making use of 27 Shakespeare play titles. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/features/morestyles/akala_twinb.shtml). Having risen to the challenge with a classic freestyle enjoying numerous rewinds, including requests on Ras Kwame’s Radio 1 show, Akala was encouraged by his producer Rez to expand the theme into a song, which became ‘Comedy Tragedy History’, a master-class of lyrical dexterity, flipping quotes from Shakespeare into a modern context. “To be honest, it wasn’t that hard, you’d be surprised how much of our everyday language is made up from Shakespeare - ‘ the shirt off my back’, ‘method in his madness’ the list is endless, Shakespeare wasn’t just an amazing playwright – his insight into humanity was so crazy that he’s affected language 400 in his future!” - AkalaAkala's interest in Shakespeare extends beyond simply a witty subject for rap verses. This spring, Akala will be undertaking a series of national BBC workshops where he’ll attempt to give young people a greater understanding of literature through the use of comparisons of Shakespeare's work to modern day hip-hop. The workshops explore the linguistic, cultural and social parallels between the life and work of the Bard and that of modern day hip hop. To date, Akala’s CV has been pretty impressive. He won 2006’s MOBO Award for best hip hop act with his debut album ‘It’s Not A Rumour’ beating Kanye West and Busta Rhymes amongst others. He has rocked live spots on Radio 1, and toured with artists as diverse as Jay-Z, Christina Aguilera and Richard Ashcroft. At the same time, he has tirelessly taken his acclaimed live show not only across the country but as far afield as Vietnam (where he performed the first ever hip hop show in the country’s history), and Nigeria at the behest of the British Council.Indeed, Akala is an artist that has always pushed boundaries and has tried to be on the cutting edge of what's going on in music - both on and off wax. Street mixtapes by UK artists? Akala was one of the first with his groundbreaking ‘War Mixtape’ (2004). Rap-rock-electro fusion sound? Akala's techno sampling smash underground track ‘Shakespeare’ was turning heads in 2006, long before Kanye West decided to sample a Daft Punk track for his return in 2007. Uniting the disparate worlds of UK hip-hop and grime? Look no further than the ‘A Little Darker’ Mixtape (2006) which was the first UK release to truly bring the significant players from each scene together on one offering. This year will also see Akala’s first ever US release. Following a crazy freestyle over The Gossips ‘Standing In The Way...’ on Radio 1’s Zane Lowe, Akala’s Myspace hits went through the roof causing him to enter Myspace’s International Top 100 alternative chart, coverage in The Fader – the critically acclaimed American music magazine - followed and New York label The Savant Guard got in touch. A stateside April release of ‘Bit By Bit’ is now penned.Finally, Akala will be taking what Zane Lowe has described as his “legendary” live show, with its unique blend of hip-hop, electro and punk, to the South By Southwest music festival in Texas this March as well as across the UK throughout the spring.
“Call it urban; call it street, a rose by any other name smells just as sweet.” - Akala Akala