Mansa Wakili, known as chief waKiL (born August 8th, 1987) is a rapper and producer from Kansas City, Missouri.
How he acquired the name chief waKiL is thatwaKiL is part of his last name Wakili and his first name, Mansa, is a word derived from Africa meaning “emperor”, “king of kings”, or “chief”. Hence, chief waKiL.
His music beginnings sparked one day while playing with kids of his mother’s friend. He spotted a toy keyboard and when he went to plug it in, he got electrocuted. From there, his interests further progressed.
Wakil was in a rap group growing up with his cousin and some friends. One being The Renegades. Then began to work as an independent artist, along with a few friends, such as Brian Kennedy and T-Wiz.
Wakil released his mixtape Hack This in 2009, later with his first full album Nice To Meet You in 2013, although some songs were released in 2010. Later he released littleGiants:EPic later that same year. Also, he was the champion for Power 106 ’s Who’s Next? contest in 2014
As for his rapping style, he is influenced by east coast hip-hop with artists such as A Tribe Called Quest and Wu-Tang Clan. However, his favorite rapper of all is Eminem and his goal is to one day write a rap better than his. His songs are made to promote individuality and being true to yourself, since this is such a rare occurrence in hip-hop. He has a movement for his fans called#KiLSociety, which is a movement to kill the views that the media has placed everyone under.