Wakai

Wakai (Austin Johnson) is a Baton Rouge rapper, multi-instrumentalist, and DIY artist building a new Louisiana sound at the crossroads of Southern rap and neo-soul. Steeped from childhood in his father's '90s hip-hop vinyl and his mother's neo-soul, he calls himself "a jazz musician stuck in a rapper's body" — a sensibility that shows in his preference for live bands and trained players. His 2022 debut To a Dark Boy was a polished, personal introduction featuring Mick Jenkins and Emmavie, drawing attention from The FADER, Pitchfork, and Lyrical Lemonade and a spot on Pigeons & Planes' Best New Artists. His 2023 sophomore album, Some People Scream, Some People Talk, deepened that world. Fashion, film, and visual world-building sit alongside the music as part of the same practice.