Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Akela. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Akela, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I’ve known ever since I was a kid. I was always talented with drawing, and my parents always wanted me to pursue an artist career. However, I had a even bigger passion for music. I wanted to be something in the music industry, but I wasn’t sure what. It wasn’t until I had a conversation with a well known rapper from my city where I discovered I could be a producer, and that I could do anything I worked hard for.

Akela, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Akela. I am a music producer/artist from Broward County, Florida. As for music, I specialize in genres such as hip hop, r&b, metal, and alternative rock. When it comes to art, I specialize in murals and photo realistic portraits. I’ve been doing art all my life, but I first started music production when I was 15 years old. When I was younger, I was a very quiet, angry kid. I would attend a lot of shows from a popular local artist to help get that aggression out through the aggressive music that would be played. I admired how this artist could channel his anger and pain through music, and after some interactions with him he showed me that I could do the same. From there I downloaded FL Studio and began learning music production from my bedroom. In 2018 I went through a bad leg injury and a lot of losses, so I channeled that pain into my music and art, so that helped me get a lot of the opportunities I have today. My ultimate goal in life is to help heal people through music and art, and I do my best to work everyday to make that a reality.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Being able to put a smile on people’s faces. When you create something you put your energy into, and someone really connects with it, it’s the best feeling in the world to see them get excited for it. You never know what somebody else is going through, so being able to create things that can make other people forget about the real world for even a second is an amazing thing.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Allow artists to be artists. There is a stigma that being an artist isn’t a “real job” unless you are wildly successful. Everyone has to start from somewhere, so small or big, support every artist. Support every musician. Pay all creatives for their work. Small artists have a history of getting taken advantage of for their work just because they don’t have a massive following. Everyone needs to eat and be recognized for their work. Support the small creatives.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @neverakela