Akir (acronym for Always Keep It Real) is an American rapper,
record producer
A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
,
songwriter
A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...
and activist. He is known for his complex lyrics and social-political content.
Biography
Akir first entered the hip hop scene as an on-air personality at the
high school radio
High school radio are radio stations located at high schools and usually operated by its students with faculty supervision. The oldest extant high school AM radio station is AM 1450 KBPS in Portland, Oregon. Portland radio station KBPS, first li ...
station,
WNMH, from 1994 to 1996. In 1998, he ranked second out of 50 in
Howard University's Verbal Armageddon, MC competition. Akir sought to improve his musical talent and began to focus on production. Collaborating with his brother and business partner SouthPaw, he co-produced one track on
Immortal Technique
Felipe Andres Coronel (born February 19, 1978), known artistically as Immortal Technique, is an American rapper, activist and songwriter. His lyrics are largely commentary on issues such as politics, religion, institutional racism, and govern ...
's ''
Revolutionary Vol. 1''. Soon after, Akir released his first song, "Best Friend", on DJ N'finite's mix CD, ''The Blockbuster Vol. 1'', through his own production company, One Enterprises.
In November 2005, Akir and ten other up and coming emcees formed the group The Reavers, and released the album ''Terror Firma''. Soon after, One Enterprises and Viper Records joined to release Akir's debut solo album, ''
Legacy
Legacy or Legacies may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Comics
* " Batman: Legacy", a 1996 Batman storyline
* '' DC Universe: Legacies'', a comic book series from DC Comics
* ''Legacy'', a 1999 quarterly series from Antarctic Press
* ''Legacy ...
''. Soon after the release of ''Legacy'', Akir was featured in ''
The Source The Source may refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Source'' (1918 film), 1918 American drama directed by George Melford
* ''The Source'' (1999 film), a 1999 documentary film about the Beat generation
* ''The Source'' (2002 film), a 2002 scienc ...
s Unsigned Hype sidebar in the January/February 2005 issue, and the "Off The Radar" spotlight in the April 2006 issue. Akir was also featured in ''
XXL'' magazine's Chairman's Choice in the October 2005 issue, and Show and Prove spotlight in the June 2006 issue. In 2006, Akir appeared as a model for Mecca 5star apparel, appearing in ad campaigns in magazines and billboards.
Akir has completed over 10 international tours (Rock the Bells 2006-2012,
Vans Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music festival in the United S ...
2004, Fort Minor 2006, Redman Tour Fall 2007), over 15 domestic tours and over 1000 shows. The festivals he has performed at include: Coachella, Bella Terra, Roskilde (Denmark), Culturanova (Netherlands), L'Boulevard (Morocco), Qart (Norway), Hultsfred (Sweden), Hip Hop Al Parque (Columbia).
Additionally, Akir has been involved with the
Flocabulary project collaborating with
9th Wonder on a track to transform the story of ''
Romeo and Juliet
''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...
'' into a hip hop song for school curriculums. He was also referenced in one of their texts called ''The Rappers Handbook''.
In 2007, One Enterprises and Viper Records in partnership with
Koch Distribution reissued Akir's second album ''
Legacy
Legacy or Legacies may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Comics
* " Batman: Legacy", a 1996 Batman storyline
* '' DC Universe: Legacies'', a comic book series from DC Comics
* ''Legacy'', a 1999 quarterly series from Antarctic Press
* ''Legacy ...
''.
In 2008, he was made the head of artist relations at the
Hip Hop Caucus during the Respect My Vote '08 campaign which featured such celebrities as
DJ Green Lantern
James Christopher D'Agostino (born July 7, 1975), professionally known as DJ Green Lantern, is an American hip hop DJ and producer from Rochester, New York. In 2002, D'Agostino was signed by American rapper Eminem, to become the official DJ for ...
,
TI,
Maino,
Dawn Richard, and
Pharoahe Monch
Troy Donald Jamerson (born October 31, 1972), better known by his stage name Pharoahe Monch, is an American rapper known for his complex lyrics, intricate delivery, and internal and multisyllabic rhyme schemes.Edwards, Paul, 2009, ''How to Rap: ...
.
AKIR also found himself working with at-risk youth teaching writing, production, and recording with the non-profit organization Art Start, working in a studio donated by Bruce Willis, Russell Simmons and Queen Latifah.
Akir is also a member of a hip-hop artist/activist collective called Rebel Army (a.k.a. Rebel Armz) Including:
Immortal Technique
Felipe Andres Coronel (born February 19, 1978), known artistically as Immortal Technique, is an American rapper, activist and songwriter. His lyrics are largely commentary on issues such as politics, religion, institutional racism, and govern ...
, Poison Pen,
Diabolic, Swave Sevah, Da Circle (Slim & Fatz),
Hasan Salaam, CF, DJ Static, SouthPaw, and DJ GI Joe.
In the fall of 2009 he released a mixtape entitled ''The Secret'' hosted by DJ Static and
Statik Selektah
Patrick Owen Baril (born January 23, 1982), professionally known as Statik Selektah, is an American record producer, disc jockey (DJ) and radio personality originally from the Boston, Massachusetts area. He is also the founder of Showoff Records ...
. ''FOCUS (EP)'' was released August 20, 2013 and ''The Plan'' (LP) was released on September 24, 2013.
Discography
Albums
* ''Street Edition Volumes 1 & 2'' (2003, One Enterprises)
* ''
Legacy
Legacy or Legacies may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Comics
* " Batman: Legacy", a 1996 Batman storyline
* '' DC Universe: Legacies'', a comic book series from DC Comics
* ''Legacy'', a 1999 quarterly series from Antarctic Press
* ''Legacy ...
'' (2006, Viper Records)
* ''Supporter Sundays'' (2011, One Enterprises)
* ''The Plan'' (2013, Viper Records)
Mixtapes
* ''The Secret'' (2009)
(with DJ Static and Statik Selektah
Patrick Owen Baril (born January 23, 1982), professionally known as Statik Selektah, is an American record producer, disc jockey (DJ) and radio personality originally from the Boston, Massachusetts area. He is also the founder of Showoff Records ...
)
EPs
* ''Focus EP'' (2013)
References
External links
Official WebsiteAkiron
Discogs
Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...
Akiron
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akir
African-American male rappers
20th-century American male rappers
21st-century American male rappers
African-American songwriters
East Coast hip-hop musicians
Living people
Musicians from Buffalo, New York
Rappers from New York (state)
Songwriters from New York (state)
Underground rappers
21st-century American rappers
21st-century American male musicians
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century African-American musicians
American male songwriters