Taken from the Winter issue of Wonderland. Order your copy of the issue now.
Some people are born to create music, and this is the sense I get when I strike up conversation with AK. The rapper’s earliest memory of music was laden with jazzy drum solos, influenced by Dom Famularo and Buddy Rich. Describing his sound as a fusion of rap and melody, he’s managed to fine-tune a delicate balance between the two, preferring them to drift in tandem. Yet growing up, his favourite artists were Akon and T-Pain, he tells me, recalling his realisations that staying at home to make music superseded any desire to go out partying. His genuine desire to follow a musical path instead of the norm was a risk worth taking. I ask him where his name comes from, to which he admits he thought it up after using it for his gamer tag initial on XBOX, the short-and-punchy label sticking ever since. When I ask him what his favourite lyrics are, his answer — “all of them” — is testament to the confidence of the young rapper, his nonchalant, jokey aura somewhat contagious. His admittance that he’d fly Elon Musk to the moon if it were his last day alive adds to this sensation.
Interestingly, AK doesn’t have one piece of advice he follows, instead reliant on many little things that have all pitched into personal growth. Dreaming big doesn’t seem daunting, his aim is to sell is out a show of a thousand people in the near future. He reminisces over his best live gig, labelling it as a “movie”, and naming New Jersey as his favourite location, it marking the birth of where it all began. With this in mind, his inspirations always stem from self-progression and his family (alongside a dream to collaborate with Post Malone). Acknowledging how everybody feels music differently is important, he claims, as the impact this will have on people shouldn’t matter, as long as the outcome is positive.
His upcoming single “Bags to Bags”, due for release on December 21st, promises to deliver greatness. I’m betting it’ll be a fiery banger, just in time for Christmas.