Afro DZ ak

"Soft-spoken but strong-minded, Afro DZ ak is not only a fantastic trumpet player with a killer smile, but a socially conscious activist and master of impromptu rhymes. Multi-instrumental, multi-lingual, multi-racial -- Afro DZ ak embodies the diversity of 21st century progressive hip-hop. With a trumpet in his left hand and a microphone in his right, Afro DZ ak presents his solo debut Elevation.

Based in Boston, Afro DZ ak is part of the next generation of jazz-influenced, socially-conscious MCs. His new album Elevation showcases his diverse talents as a thoughtful, incisive rapper and an experienced, powerful musician.

"Gnawledge is a friend of me and ignorance the enemy"

Though reminiscent of old-school Common, Digable Planets or A Tribe Called Quest, Elevation is about much more than looped jazz samples.

Layered with live trumpet, saxophone, flute, piano, guitar and bass, Elevation's boom-bap rhythms and dynamic harmonies are a perfect match for Afro DZ ak's politically-progressive lyricism.

Like Barack Obama, Afro DZ ak (real name Pete Shungu) was born to a mother from the heartland of America (Kansas) and a father from the heart of Africa (Dem. Rep. of Congo). As a result of his diverse background, Afro DZ ak raps about real problems facing the local and global community around him.

A former member of The Eclectic Collective, Afro DZ ak was classically trained in trumpet and piano, and regularly performs in spoken-word poetry slams, recently winning the Lizard Lounge's 10th Anniversary Poetry Jam.

In the last year, Afro DZ ak has appeared on Gnotes' Rhymes and Beats, Elemental Zazen's The Glass Should Be Full, Reel Carter's Essence du Coeur and the new album Universal from his live band Soul Movement.