Ackapella Official Myspace Page

MyGen Profile GeneratorREINCARNATION OF HIP HOPA Biography of Christopher “Ackapella” Barnes-GayleThe reincarnation of all the great artists and musicians into one being took place on May 8th, 1987 at Brooklyn’s (his hometown) own Maimonides Medical Center. Thanks to Gary & Michelle Gayle and the birth of their son, Christopher “Ackapella” Barnes-Gayle, today’s watered down, artificial urban music scene has an iota of hope after all. He is referred to as the “Future of rap/hip hop” by the late Bobby Byrd (who was James Brown‘s sidekick and co-vocalist) and the ‘One man wrecking Crew’ by Dre from Cool & Dre. Ackapella has been one with music since a young age; he began his classical piano training before he could properly say his times tables! Surpassing his instructors after a few years of studying he yearned for another challenge. From school to music he excelled in everything he put his mind to, mastering three instruments (piano, organ, and the drums) and maintaining a 3.5 gpa in school. He was also very successful in extracurricular activities acquiring several sports and academic scholarships throughout his high school years. With his love of hip hop and R&B Ackapella began rapping and producing his own instrumentals. Attention commenced pouring in from Atlantic Records and Interscope Records, and many others for his talents. Yet, the streets of New York tempted him every once and a while. Being raised by his grandmother gave him plenty of time to explore all the opportunities city life offered; good and bad. His family started to recognize hereditary characteristics manifesting in Ackapella, such as the Jamaican temper passed down to him from his father. Ackapella also started to disorganize his priorities and fell in with the wrong crowd. Hanging out in studios where drugs and alcohol were essential it was only a matter of time before he associated himself with the negativity. At the tender age of 16 he began to be recognized by law enforcement also for his acts and was incarcerated in the juvenile facilities consistently. He was released within a few days after every arrests and didn’t see the harm in his actions. So after he grew weary of the monotonous petty thefts and minor misconducts he took on other challenges such as armed robbery and grand theft auto. Every criminal’s downfall is greed and this situation wasn’t any different; he was arrested and convicted for a 4 felony charges as a high school honor student senior, all state track and basketball athlete, and rising music producer/artist. Due to the reoccurrences and severity of the crimes he was direct filed (charged as an adult rather than a juvenile) and charged to 12 months jail time. Due to his reluctance to adapt behavorial incidents inside of the facility extended his sentence to 18 months. After he finally accepted his current state he decided to make the best of it by writing lyrics every minute of the day, working out, and finishing his high school studies. Upon his release he was in impeccable shape, had over 300 songs written, and had earned his high school diploma. With his life back on track and his incarceration behind him Ackapella quickly picked up where he left off by enrolling in classes at Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL and getting right back into the studio. After a year of playing catch up he relocated to Atlanta, GA where the music scene had since resituated. After a few short weeks in “The A” Ackapella was a highly sought after commodity, winning producer and rap battles all around the city. He was approached by Kwan Straughn, CEO of Gudfellaz Records (which has Koch distribution), and received a lucrative offer to move into the company estate and become the lead act as well as in-house producer. Since that was an offer he couldn’t refuse Ackapella accepted and within a few months had produced everyone on the roster’s projects including his own and been on tour performing along side the likes of Young Joc, Yin Yang Twins, and Oomp Camp. This opportunity gave him the chance to master the art of production and record in a million dollar studio 24/7. During his run with Gudfellaz Records he recorded with Silk and received consideration from Def Jam Records for his hit single “Just 4 U”. All of the attention from outsiders began to make Kwan jealous and insecure about his new prodigy's loyalty to the label. The friction between Ackapella and Kwan drew them apart slowly and ended their business relationship. With one foot in the door of the music biz and one foot in the streets, Ackapella is still grinding to become a household name among the legends. His production reminds one of Just Blaze, Kanye West, or DJ Premier and his lyrical skills are not far from the path of a young Jay-Z or Nas. The many obstacles that were in his way didn’t stop him from pursuing his dream and nothing will. In the words of the hip hop legends “HIP HOP IS DEAD” and statistics (record sales) can prove that, but Ackapella is the blessing from God to reincarnate and restore the lifestyle of our people called… “HIP HOP”Join our mailing list for the latest news