I interviewed DMV-based rapper/musician OG Ahk on his way to a performance in Miami this past weekend, and what I did not expect was such a powerful story of turning pain to passion and then power to make life less painful for others. There is more than meets the eye-and music-for OG Ahk as I soon came to find out. He was born in San Bernardino (CA), but raised in Greenbelt (MD), Spring Hill Lake (MD), and Temple Hills (MD) in PG County. He wanted to make sure to shout out his managers Nana and Tay before getting the interview started, as well as shouting out Big Russ, Tre, LivengoodLivin and his cameraman for all helping him get to this point.
MUSIC:
“My music helps you get through.” -OG AHK
Ahk started off the interview by saying his music describes him best as a person. Before diving into music full-force, OG Ahk was only able to talk to his ex-girlfriend at the time about the struggles in his life. When she was no longer in the picture, he would lean on his blood brother. However, his brother would pass away, leaving a void in Ahk’s life. He would subsequently drop his Mechanical Enginnering major from college, lose his job and basically had to “start from scratch” as he describes. Ahk would then turn to funneling his pain and stories into the music, which in turn produced great and career defining content. Wanting to expand his levels in the music genre he is currently in, Ahk is “not just a rapper” as elucidates, putting soul within his music and actively training his voice to have more range with his compositions.
PURPOSE:
“I want people to understand that it’s okay to take the risk.” -OG AHK
From pain came power, which transmuted into power for his entire community in ways Ahk would not even begin to comprehend in full himself. “I’m opening up doors…but it starts with music,” he tells me with absolute certainty in his voice. Ahk began putting his pain and passion into the music, and this translated directly into his success. Soon, because of the music, he began to ascend in entrepreneurship. He boasts during the interview that everyone in his team currently owns their own businesses, officially all registered as individual LLCs. Ahk has plans for housing, mentorship and more for young African-American men. Through living out his purpose with music, and not being defined by his pain, Ahk has been able to provide for others-also using his platform to shed light on people in the underground artist community who too deserve happiness, prosperity, and wealth.
PERSONAL/PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS:
“Now, it’s not just about me.” -OG AHK
“My very first show was at the Fillmore [in Silver Spring, Maryland] opening up for Q Da Fool and YFN Lucci,” Ahk tells me ever so casually. Imagine living in your purpose so much that your first show is opening up for top-notch magazine cover rap artists in your own town. Grinding with his music and dropping quality after quality projects and singles, a tear-inducing personal highlight would shine upon the already bright career of OG Ahk. A 13-year old young Black male would contact OG Ahk personally on the phone to tell Ahk that listening to Ahk’s music prevented him from committing suicide. The young boy had lost his own brother and was going through the same woes that Ahk and many other Black men describe as a tragic canon of their daily lives with few to vent to. “Everyday I listen to your music,” the boy would tell Ahk. “I can change one person at a time,” Ahk would say to me at the end of this inspiring anecdote. Combined with these stories, how far he is to come with his strides already (even opening a show later in his career for NBA YoungBoy), and power gained from his community coming up with his platform, OG Ahk is next up and one to watch be a breath of fresh air in the mainstream.
You can check out his latest project, Project Ahk, now streaming on multiple platforms as well as his other music on multiple platforms, including the notable tracks “You”, “We Ain’t the Same” and “No Turning Back.”
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/project-ahk/1449765830
You can follow OG Ahk on his Twitter and Instagram social media accounts at @ayeahkie .
-M.Valentino
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