Claustrophobic and concrete, Akpro's sound lends itself to this tortured self-analysis.
Photo: Holly Whitaker | Words: Lloyd Bolton
No one quite sounds like the concrete and lights of London in the way Sam Akpro does. His music burns with polluted claustrophobia, as scraping guitars measure the depth of the abyss into which we are being sucked. It's danceable, sure, if you're already so numb that you don't have a problem with the buzzkill of the subject matter. As its title suggests, Akpro's new single 'Death by Entertainment,' addresses that mood, inviting us to speculate on its personal resonance for an artist whose career is in ascendance.
The music video sets up this atmosphere of an afterwork party gone on too long, cutting scenes of Akpro and band playing dead on rooftops with debauched partying, the group all dressed in city worker suits. Lyrically, however, the scattered scraps of ideas hurled forth by Akpro bring us away from the corporate and back into the demanding world of music, the life of the entertainer. It suggests a pleasure, "easily destroyed, easy to exploit," putting self at centre stage as he wails, "I'm burning out, still play the game." Coming at the end of a year of relentless touring at festivals and gigs in support of his third EP, it is difficult not to look at such a track as an insight into the demands of that lifestyle on young artists forging a name for themselves. It's all late nights, hinging on an ability to create a good time for others while maintaining one's own vitality. The life is seductive, "so easy, so pleasing," but given how replaceable music has become, a million tracks being uploaded to Spotify daily, it is an unspeakable demand to keep a hold of the limelight. (A single coming as this one does, a few months after an EP is a great chance to get your monthly listeners back up and have another shot at press, radio, etc.; a chance to make sure you're not forgotten!).
The metaphor comes close to the reality lived by Akpro, but it also serves as his opportunity to reflect on the wider culture of neoliberal city life. We are expected to be as industrious as possible for the sake of staying afloat, finding ourselves assessing our hobbies for their capacity for monetisation. The entertainers, wrenched from their bedroom studios, are thrown on stage, conscious that if they don't keep dancing there's a long line of others waiting to replace them.
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