A.K. 4ORTY SE7EN
Music is his passion. Music is his life..
AK is an Artist. A Visionary. He is a Rapper/Songwriter/Entrepreneur.
A Florida Boy from Daytona Beach, AK kept his ear to the street and continued to learn from it at an early age. As a teenager, by being on his own and supporting himself, AK become independent and self-sufficient. At one point, for his own survival, AK had to put his classes on hold for a little while, so he could put all his time into hustling, in order to pay the bills . With all these efforts, and throughout all his struggles, AK eventually overcame the many hardships and obstacles that stood in his path to success. By keeping his priorities straight, AK also managed to not only bring his grades up and graduate from Mainland High School, but miraculously, somehow also received a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship for college. Realizing the risk factor and planning ahead, AK then decided to give up selling drugs before attending college, in order to focus entirely on his studies.
AK had been rhyming and writing poetry since before he could remember, but up until that point, had never seriously considered making music himself. He grew up listening to 102 JAMZ as a kid, but didn’t fall in love with Hip-Hop, until his best friend, K-Love, introduced him to 2pac back when they were just 13 and 14-years-old. That’s when AK’s appreciation for music really started to grow. Music made him feel free. From then on, AK gave music his full attention. The more he listened, and the more familiar he got with the lyrics, the more he began to memorize raps. AK says, “There’s no better feeling than cruising down the street, bumping your favorite song as loud as you can, and reciting all the lyrics because you know all the words. Music was always there for me, when no one else was. I love music, and music loves me. It’s an unconditional love.” AK’s favorite thing about music is the memories it makes.
In 2003, while attending the University of Florida, in Gainesville, FL, AK figured it was time to take his music to a whole new level. After hearing a recording made by his friends, Thrill Hill, Anton, Burban B and CTC, over the instrumental to Birdman’s “What Happened To That Boy” featuring Clipse, AK knew they were onto something. AK co-founded Franchise Records, partnered with Thrill Hill Productions, and began to build an Independent Record Label from the ground up. They started out just downloading beats and free-styling over them, continuously growing and perfecting their craft. The more they recorded, the more they learned, and the more songs they made the better they got. Word was spreading around quick, and of course, the hate started to roll in. AK says, “A lot of our friend’s were really judgmental, and never really took us seriously. I mean, we weren’t taking it seriously. We were just doing it for fun. Just for something to do in between classes and work, ya know? So after we got the basics down, we released ’It’s So Serious‘, which Thrill came up with as a joke. The entire album was all our own beats, mostly made by Thrill. Anton would sing on the hook, and we’d all just get together and record songs and rap, as a leisure activity (laughs). Shit was fun as fuck. Throughout the years, we recorded over 200 songs and more than 15 albums. If you listened to all the mixtapes, you can hear the progression of our quality, not only in the equipment, but the production, and delivery as well. We started off with an old-school computer microphone, then had the hand-held kind, until we finally upgraded to the headset-mic combo, which we used up until pretty recently. Even ‘Florida Boy’ was recorded with that mic (laughs). Pretty good for a radio jam, huh? (laughs again)”
AK's acting debut was in "Saving Grace", a short film produced by Itay Bengal, in 2004. AK played the character "Gavin", alongside high school friend Burban B, who co-starred in the movie with Campus Talk Magazine's cover girl, Sanja Komljenovic. Music for the soundtrack was credited by Thrill Hill Productions and Franchise Records. Soon after Franchise Records was founded, they recruited C Money, a newcomer from Queens, NY. Together AK, Thrill and C Money expanded their business to another sister company, G Block Entertainment. The new subsidiary‘s title, was due to some of the group member’s recent run-ins with law enforcement, namely GPD (Gainesville Police Department). One of AK’s arrests, an Aggravated Battery charge, was blown out of proportion in the media. The Independent Florida Alligator, the University of Florida’s unofficial, student-run newspaper (which AK, later on, worked for as an Account Executive Advertising Sales Rep), ran an article, along with a “Most Wanted Mug Shot” of AK, alleging that the defendant hit an officer with his car and fled the scene, which lead to his arrest the next week. While in jail, AK’s cellmates informed him that he had been on WUFT-TV, a division of the UF College of Journalism and Communications, which AK was attending classes. AK was almost kicked out of college, but luckily only got suspended for a year. AK ended up receiving a Bachelor of Science in Advertising degree with an Outside Concentration in Business Administration from UF. Soon after graduating, AK landed a job at Sunshine Broadcasting, as a Media Consultant for WTMG Magic 101.3 Blazin’ Non-Stop Hip-Hop and R&B. At Gainesville’s only urban radio station, this is where AK met the new Program Director, Jamie “DJ Babyface” Pendleton, Hitman DJ Klarc Shepard, many other important contacts., and gained hands-ons industry experience as to the ins and outs of running a successful radio station.
AK had been working dead-end jobs since before he was even allowed, because at 15-years-old, he told his future employer that he was a year older, in order to obtain the position he wanted. AK has worked close to 30 jobs in his life, and financed his own college expenses. Since his lease was ending in Gainesville and he was ready to move on to bigger and better things, he thought, “It was time to give this music thing a shot”, so he decided to put all his efforts into his dream, and concentrate entirely on music. It was just the beginning of something great, and the parent company NORTHSOUTH F U S I O N was born. That’s when AK and C Money came up with the concept for “Florida Boy”, the Florida Gators 1 smash hit. They wrote the song together, recorded it, and gave it to Babyface and Klarc that night, and it was on the radio the next day, just in time for game day. With the Florida Gators winning two NCAA National Men's Basketball Championships back to back, a Football Championship in 2006, Tim Tebow winning the Heisman in 2007, and another Football Championship in 2008, word spread like wildfire and “Florida Boy” became an instant success. Soon “Florida Boy” was being played on radio stations all across Florida and eventually, all over the world, in nightclubs and bars, at house parties, on mixtapes, and wherever there were Gator Fans. The Gator Nation is everywhere!
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