Credit: Andrew Kendall

Judging by the tales he tells on his debut album ‘When We Were Young’, London-dwelling rap fellow Akira The Don has been right through the wringer. Shoplifting, squatting with junkies, having his heart broken; the poor wee chap has endured it all. And to cap it off, his silly-money record deal with Interscope went awry as he was locked down, unreleased, while the label spunked its wad on Desperate Housewives tribute band The Pussycat Dolls and others. He got a fancy studio out of the deal, but his larger-than-reality dreams of a larger-than-reality pop career seemed dashed, as he kissed goodbye the promised collaborations with labelmates Dr Dre and Eminem.

But it ain’t all bad. Akira was able to secure the rights to his album for release on UK indie label Something In Construction, and his star is once again on the ascent. His previous career as a journalist and editor at PlayLouder.com informs his darkly witty, observational lyrics, which rant about everything from poverty to government conspiracies to blind conformity. And on the album’s standout track, ‘Thanks For All The Aids’, he has a pop at last year’s grossly misjudged Live8, taking a swipe at “Shite white rock bands with trite white wristbands”. Why, he even cusses himself bad with the line, “Come friendly bombs and rain on Keane/And anyone who’s ever been, like, featured in the NME/And that includes me.” Cheeky bugger.

Daniel Robson grabbed Akira via email near the end of a UK tour with his backing band The Women, many of whom are men.

Hello Akira! You're a musician, rapper, producer, writer and artist – but isn't there anything you're really crap at?
“I suck at eating vegetables. I am no good at football either. My old man used to mock me for ‘bumming the ball’. I didn't want it in my balls, is all.”

Why did it take so long to get your debut album out?
“The Masters were umming and ah-ing about whether to throw 4 million at it. I got bored of the umming eventually, and brought it back home for my people. Word to the whole locked-down Interscope roster, watching those Pussycat Dolls run off with their shit.”