A.K. Toney

To Pimp a Butterfly, Saturday, May 4, 2:00-3:00pm, Mountain View Mausoleum

A.K. Toney is a Griot, writer, and educator. He currently is a Literacy Coordinator, Artist teacher and owner of Reading Is Poetry. Although Toney has yet to publish a full volume of poetry, he is currently working on his first bookand an album chronicling his life as a poet in the Leimert Park Village area in Los Angeles, CA. As a Griot Toney has learned the art of storytelling while playing percussion instruments. His latest album on vinyl entitled Neo Griot and the Afrocentric Prince released in 2022, was recognized as a “must have of best Hip-Hop, Jazz and Spoken Word” by www.bandcamp.com. Toney often deeply emerges himself into rhythms of African Oral Tradition and Jazz from a modern urban perspective. A.K. follows the role of the Griot singing and playing the message, loving, and respecting the people.