Kingslee James McLean Daley, born December 1, 1983, in Crawley, West Sussex, England, known professionally as Akala, is an English rapper, author, and activist. Raised in Kentish Town, London, by a Scottish mother and a Jamaican father, he released early recordings through his independent record label Illa State Records before releasing his debut studio album, It's Not a Rumour, in May 2006. Supported by the single “Shakespeare”, the album earned him the MOBO Award for Best Hip Hop Act in 2006. He released his second studio album, Freedom Lasso, in 2007, featuring the single “Comedy Tragedy History”, followed by his third studio album, DoubleThink, in 2010, inspired by George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. In 2013, he released his fourth studio album, The Thieves Banquet, featuring the single “Lose Myself” featuring Josh Osho, followed by Knowledge Is Power II in 2015. In 2009, he founded The Hip-hop Shakespeare Company, and in May 2018 published his non-fiction book Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire. Daley received honorary doctorates from Oxford Brookes University and the University of Brighton in 2018.
