Orikal

"A person of unquestionable knowledge and wisdom."

Orikal is the true definition of strength. At only 16 years of age, he has accomplished more than most have in a lifetime, ranging from graduating High School early, to building his own recording setup, to single handedly printing, engineering, selling and setting up consignment contracts with local stores for his albums.

Born with Puerto Rican blood, Orikal was raised on the West Side of St. Paul, Minnesota, by a fighting single mother. Orikal grew up in an enviroment that forced him to notice the reality of the world around him. Moving from apartment to apartment, and finally into a house of their own, Orikal and his mother fought for what they have today.

Orikal didn't have it the easiest growing up. Born with a stutter, he was often teased through-out his elementary school days. His mother always taught him to not let the negative people get the best of him, and to always be strong, no matter the circumstances.

As time moved on, his problems grew as he started to get encountered by the St. Paul Police Department. At age 13, he was detained during class at St. Paul Open School. Handcuffed and all, the police officer escorted him to a room where the officer proceeded to insult him, racially profile him, stereotype him, and verbally dismantle him. Soon after, it turned out that Orikal had done nothing wrong, which fueled the on-going hatred he has for the police.

"Some of you are cool, all the rest of you are snakes // Meeting quotas on minorities just to gain a rank"

Throughout his life, Orikal always clinged on to music. As a child, his Mother would play Snoop Dogg, Too Short and Zapp and Roger tapes, as well as the Doors and Led Zeppelin. His first favorite musician was none other than Michael Jackson. At the age of 7, he owned Michael Jackson's "Bad" album. As time went on, he grew fond of Rock music, and then when hearing Method Man for the first time at age 10, he grew very fond of hip hop music. He then discovered artists such as 2pac, Twista and Bone Thugs -N- Harmony. He would find the lyrics to their songs, study them, and try to rap along. One of his favorite past times was perfecting Twista's old school song, "Mista Tung Twista." Orikal also studied the lyrics of Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Plant, Eddie Vedder, Scott Weiland, Anthony Kiedis and Layne Staley. Pretty soon, he got bored with reciting other people's work.

As his interest for hip hop increased, his interest for the local scene also increased. A friend of his burned him a mix CD with local hip hop artists such as Atmosphere and Eyedea, as well as an hour long freestyle session with people such as Aesop Rock, Sage Francis, Blueprint, Illogic and Felipe Cuauhtli.

With bright eyes and a strong pride for his home, he wanted to make his own music. He started writing his own rhymes about what he would see happen, and what he learned in school. At the age of 13, Orikal bought a computer game from the Dollar Store. It came with a microphone that plugged into a computer.

It was with this very microphone that he recorded his first three releases: Unquestionable, Visions of Elevation, and the Press Play Volume One mix tape.

Excited about the fact that he could record himself, he recorded multiple rhymes just for fun. But then he got serious.

He met a guy named Chris from California, who posted art on a hip hop forum. These two artists started exchanging instant messages and virtually got along with each other. Chris then started making hip hop instrumentals, and the two really connected. Chris went by the alias of "Hiphopapotamus."

Now that he had beats to rap on, the only thing he needed was a name. He heard the word "Oracle" before, and liked the sound of it. He pulled out a dictionary, and looked up the definition.

1) A person considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinions.
2) An authoritative or wise statement or prediction.
These definitions clicked, and the name stuck.

As time went on, Orikal put together a crew of friends from school and musicians looking to make music, and have fun with it. The crew would be known as the Playground Crew, with the objective of making music and having fun.

Since then, Orikal has upgraded his studio set-up and retired his trusted dollar store microphone. He has appeared on show line-ups with names such as Brother Ali, Toki Wright and Carnage, and has performed at places such as the Blue Nile, the Annex, the Dinkytowner, The Loft in Madison, Wisconsin, and even at the Minnesota State Capital.

Orikal hopes to venture out of Minnesota soon to do shows, sell CDs, and connect with artists who have the same passion for music as he does. He hopes to get the exposure he's seeking by the time he's 18. And when he sets goals, he doesn't stop until he finally reaches them.