Wil Akogu
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Wil Akogu

Chicago, IL | Established. Jan 01, 2016 | SELF

Chicago, IL | SELF
Established on Jan, 2016
Solo Hip Hop Rock

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

Press


"Chicago rapper Wil Akogu Fights Against Inner and Outer Enslavement on 'Buried Alive'"

Wil Akogu calls himself the Most Valuable Poet, and the 19-year-old Chicago-based rapper seems certain the rest of the world will too—he wants to use his rhymes and music to change the way we think about self-love, purpose, and our own identities. On his recent second EP, The Language of the Soul, he turns his journey to find himself into an invitation to other lost brethren.

Akogu feels chained by what society expects of him as the son of a Nigerian father and an African-American mother—he was born in Schaumburg but raised in Yaba, Nigeria, with his dad's family. "It's an enslavement," he says. "There are people that accept the fact that they're supposed to live an oppressed life. That they're supposed to be slaves."

Akogu tackles this notion head-on in the video for his first single, "Buried Alive." At the beginning of the clip, he appears as an escaped slave in the middle of a snowy forest. (Liam Trumble produced the video, while Shlohmo produced the track.) He runs from something or someone as the chorus repeats, "Tell me what it is that you see in me." Near the end, he's captured, and a white man dressed in black tells a small crowd, "This is what happens when you go against us."

The wordless group vocals in the song evoke the singing of slaves around a fire. "That's exactly what I was going for," Akogu says. "That pain. That desire for freedom." He was pursuing that desire himself when he moved to Los Angeles after finishing high school to pursue music full-time, but he only stayed for seven months before returning to Schaumburg.

"It was really hard for me to find myself. I was trying to make a cool record. I was trying to make a summer record," Akogu says. "Those records are dope, but it's not me. I don't want to do what I can do. I want to do what I'm meant to do." - Chicago Reader


"Wil Akogu - New Songs, Albums and News"

Music Review - DJ Booth


"Wil Akogu - These Days"

Artist review and music clips. - These Days


"Wil Akogu - Flow For Days"

Interview - Flow For Days


"Wil Akogu - The Plug Society"

Music review - The Plug Society


"Wil Akogu - Operation X"

Music review - Chic City Hip Hop


"CHICAGO RAPPER WIL AKOGU GETS HIS TURN AT THE METRO AS OPENER FOR MARSHA AMBROSIUS & ERIC BENÉT"

Wil Akogu doesn't want to be typecast as just another rapper from the Chi. The 20-year-old son of Nigerian and African-American parents is a melting pot of sounds and rhythms that he feels is devoid from many local shows and venues.

On Sunday, Akogu is bringing his unique style of poetry, hip-hop and soul to the Metro, where he'll be opening for The M.E. Tour featuring Marsha Ambrosius and Eric Benét.

"I'm very humbled by the opportunity to be able to bless the same stage as these guys," Akogu says. "A lot of the shows that I put on are in places where musicality is not at the forefront. This opportunity allows me to be all that I am - hip-hop, soul, with the energy of a rock star."

*click link to continue* - The Triibe Chicago


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

Photos

Bio

William Akogu, better known as Wil Akogu (his stage name) is an African-American hip-hop recording artist born in the city Chicago on August 18th, 1996. He spent a few of his early years in America before he moved to Nigeria at the tender age of 5. Most of his childhood was spent in Nigeria before moving back to America at the age of 11. Akogu longs to share his passion, love and soulful outlook on life. Akogu's music and personality promotes the importance of self-awareness and self love, indicating that our souls and who we truly are hold the key to life, and answers to life's deepest questions.


Band Members