It all started with his first solo at church in his native Charleston, SC. Then known as just “Keel,” the short, wing-eared six-year old with lots of promise stood on a chair and sang “Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! We are going to see the King!” The youngest of six children, AKIL was often found entertaining audiences and himself with dances, songs and impressions of family members and friends early on. Unknowingly, he had embarked on the path to his destiny as a consummate performance artist. From school plays to movies, from drama competitions to creating dramatic works, AKIL eventually earned a BA in Theater from the University Of South Carolina.
In June of 1996, a month after graduation, AKIL moved to New York to pursue his lifelong dream as a television actor and movie star. (Now, he’ll “settle” for Broadway.) His relocation from the Palmetto State to the Big Apple came by way of his acceptance to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center’s Summer Intensive Program. This one-man-act humbly owns up to gifts in dancing, singing, writing, modeling, and directing. Over a 10-year span, many special opportunities have allowed AKIL to put to good use his God-given talents.
AKIL has worked with some of the industry’s most celebrated artists and some of its lesser known, gifted actors. His television credits include work on One Life to Live, As the World Turns, Saturday Night Live, and Sex and the City. As a child and adult, he has appeared in some of Hollywood’s biggest movies, including North and South and Forrest Gump. Outside of Hollywood, AKIL has performed as a lead in the musical Violet and as Thomas in Making Books Sing’s production of A Band of Angels. Also, AKIL’s work as a model has landed his face in Essence and Gear magazines. But, the work does not stop there because his gifts were not only given to make him shine but to inspire as well.
AKIL has taught drama and free-style dance classes to community youth through Creative Outlet Dance Theater of Brooklyn. He currently works as a guest artist for the Manhattan Theatre Club. At his church in Brooklyn, Emmanuel Baptist, AKIL has choreographed for the dance ministry and directed two theatrical productions.
While these opportunities have helped to develop AKIL artistically, they have also assisted in his ultimate desire to set free in all the broken-heartened the chance to be mended and start again.
To date, AKIL’s most satisfying roles are as writer, songwriter, choreographer, actor, and producer of the forthcoming return of his one-man show The Weekend: Searching for “LOVE” which debuted in Brooklyn, NY in June 2004. In a world where everyone has the desire to be loved, AKIL, through his show, asks the question if the pursuit of romance and the establishment of a career can go hand-in-hand.
For AKIL, it is safe to say that the best is yet to come! In the meantime, AKIL stands tall and sings from the title song of The Weekend, “Because tomorrow is not promised to some, because tomorrow is not promised to me, because tomorrow is not promised to anyone, I shall let my light shine, and let it shine, today.