AKIL THE MC

Akil The MC came up at the Good Life Café in Los Angeles, the open-mic workshop where MCs had to earn the room. In 1993, two of its crews, Rebels of Rhythm and Unity Committee, joined forces as Jurassic 5: four MCs (Akil, Chali 2na, Zaakir, and Marc 7even) and two DJs (Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark).

The 1997 Jurassic 5 EP, home to "Concrete Schoolyard" and "Jayou," became an underground classic and set the group's sound: tight four-MC routines over sample-rich, boom-bap production. Quality Control followed in 2000, and Power in Numbers (2002) and Feedback (2006) each reached No. 15 on the Billboard 200. Along the way, J5 recorded with Dave Matthews Band ("Work It Out"), Nelly Furtado ("Thin Line"), and Big Daddy Kane and Percee P ("A Day at the Races").

Jurassic 5 built its name on stage. The group toured the world, played the Warped Tour, Lollapalooza, and Bonnaroo, and after a 2007 split reunited in 2013 for Coachella and an international tour that took them to Glastonbury's West Holts stage in 2014.

As a solo artist, Akil keeps the focus on lyricism. His album Sound Check includes "Word Up" with Wordsworth, the Tone Your Skills Vol. 1 beat tape (2025) shows his work behind the boards, and recent singles include "LIVE" with Duke Westlake. In 2025 he joined Glasses Malone and LA Giantz on "Wanted."

More than three decades after the Good Life, Akil is still doing what he has done from day one: writing real rhymes and moving the crowd as an MC and a DJ.