Kingslee Daley had a lot of career options before settling on the music business. The former youth team defender for both Wimbledon and West Ham football clubs, straight-A student, athlete, and restaurant manager took the name Akala (a Buddhist term meaning immovable), and released his first album, It's Not a Rumour in May of 2006. A critical success, the album won numerous awards, and scored him an opening slot on the U.K. leg of Christina Aguilera's 2006 tour. As head of the label Illa State, Akala was also in the business of production, including mixtapes and videos. In 2007, he released album number two, Freedom Lasso. ~ Chris True