• Genre :: Urban/Hip hop
• Listen :: Track 1 | Track 2

An "opus" is a piece of music. "Akoben is the African Adinkra symbol "warhorn", which means "a call to action". This band is a multi-influential, rhyme-driven, hip-hop funk thing. It's like," What would Sly and the Family Stone sound like if they did hip hop?" We call ours, "funk hop".

Jay Nichols is a drummer and pianist. He producer and songwriter for television and film and is currently the drummer for international recording artist Citizen Cope. Mr. Nichols has performed in Japan, Europe, and across the U.S. performing his music and he lives in Washington D.C.

Terence (Sub-Z) Nicholson is an accomplished painter, musician and martial artist who co-founded the Freestyle Union in 1994. He attended the Corcoran School of Art on a scholarship for painting and sculpture. With childhood comrade, Carl Walker, Mr. Nicholson founded Opus Akoben in 1997. Mr. Nicholson remains active in the visual arts community and has also earned a black belt in Chinese boxing. He currently teaches martial arts to children with special needs in Washington, D.C., and exhibits his paintings and sculpture.

Kokayi (pronounced koh-kai-yee) brings people together with his incredible performance ability. He is multi-talented - singing, playing piano and drums, writing poetry, and creating visual art. His acclaimed freestyle ability earned him a spot on the board of the Freestyle Union, an organization dedicated to the art of hip-hop.

Ezra Greer started playing guitar at age 5 and switched to bass at age 8. He grew up playing in the very fertile scene of funk bands in the D.C. metro area and went on to produce tracks with hip-hop artists. In 1991, Mr. Greer produced an album with saxophonist Steve Coleman. He has been playing and producing with Opus Akoben since the group's conception in 1995.