He is now known as much for his political analysis as for his music, and, unsurprisingly, his new book, Natives, is therefore long awaited. Whatever that means.”Īny of the million-plus people who have since followed Akala – real name Kingslee Daley – know that the search has taken him into the realm of serious scholarship. “Apparently,” it continues, “I’m second-generation black Caribbean. Like so much of his work, the song Find No Enemy blends his life in the struggle of poverty, race, class and violence, with the search for answers. “First time I saw knives penetrate flesh, it was meat cleavers to the back of the head,” the north London rapper remembers of his childhood.

'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title.In 2010, UK rap artist Akala dropped the album DoubleThink, and with it, some unforgettable words. 'A history lesson of the kind you should get in school but don't' Stylist 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.Ĭovering everything from the police, education and identity to politics, sexual objectification and the far right, Natives will speak directly to British denial and squeamishness when it comes to confronting issues of race and class that are at the heart of the legacy of Britain's racialised empire. 'A potent combination of autobiography and political history which holds up a mirror to contemporary Britain' IndependentĪ searing modern polemic and Sunday Times bestseller from the BAFTA and MOBO award-winning musician and political commentator, Akala.įrom the first time he was stopped and searched as a child, to the day he realised his mum was white, to his first encounters with racist teachers - race and class have shaped Akala's life and outlook. 'Part biography, part polemic, this powerful, wide-ranging study picks apart the British myth of meritocracy' David Olusoga, Guardian The kind of disruptive, aggressive intellect that a new generation is closely watching' Afua Hirsch, Observer This is the book I've been waiting for - for years' Benjamin Zephaniah It's personal, historical, political, and it speaks to where we are now. LONGLISTED FOR THE 2019 ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING SHORTLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE | THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE 2019 | THE BREAD AND ROSES AWARD FOR RADICAL PUBLISHING 2019

Natives by Akala