Bio
Her light greets you before she does. Energy is felt in every word. Her eyes twinkle with a childlike excitement yet her words are wise beyond her years. Clearly raised with love, Akua Taylor is worldwide bound .
Akua means precious messenger, a name given to girls born on Wednesday in Ghana, West Africa. Born in Milwaukee, WI, Akua was raised in a culturally rich community of progressive people. An appropriate name for her company, Precious Messenger Productions houses all creations of the singer, actress, dancer, songwriter, playwright, composer, and motivational speaker.
Ms. Taylor is the daughter of retired news anchorman Bill Taylor. Before reporting for almost 30 years at WTMJ4, Bill Taylor was a disk jockey. He had a basement full of classic soul records, a sound system to match and frequent get-togethers that were legendary. Bill instilled the love of music in his children; the fundamentals of which stuck with Akua.
Classically trained in piano and vocally rooted in choral music, Akua set her sites on Fisk University in Nashville, TN to be one of the world renowned Jubilee Singers. Not only did she sing with the group but she also reigned as Miss Fisk University 2004-2005.
Between classes, Akua wrote, recorded and produced her first album “Reach Higher,” selling it out of her dorm room, bookstore and everywhere she traveled. She promoted independent music on her campus radio show and performed regularly with area bands. Upon graduating Magna cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Akua recorded her EP “Just Tryin’ to Live,” and moved to New York to pursue her music and acting career full time.
It began at Food 4 Thought Café in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn. Akua sang at a “Liberation Friday” open mic night and was enthusiastically embraced by the community. She has since performed at AIDS walk 2008 in Central Park and has opened for Emily King, Brand Nubian and M1 of Dead Prez.
Akua is no stranger to the stage. She began acting at age eight with the African American Children’s Theatre in Milwaukee. At Fisk, Akua wrote her own one-woman show about exiled activist Assata Shakur. She has since developed “Assata: One Woman” and is set to debut the play in New York early next year.
Her motivational singing assembly “Reach Higher,” has touched students in Elizabeth, New Jersey with messages of setting goals, believing in self, and being ladies and gentleman.
She is a breath of fresh air. Committed to preserving African culture through her art, Akua believes in her calling as a precious messenger.