Ed Accura is a British songwriter, musician, producer, rapper, and host of In The Deep End podcast, screenwriter, and producer of the documentary feature film A Film Called Blacks Can’t Swim, and Blacks Can’t Swim The Sequel, both directed by award-winning filmmaker Mysterex (MO-AM).
Ed co-founded the Black Swimming Association (BSA) with Seren Jones, Danielle Obe and Alice Dearing. The BSA was set up two years ago to champion inclusivity, representation, and diversity in aquatics; highlighting the value of swimming as an essential life-saving skill and showcasing aquatic opportunities and aquatic career pathways which are otherwise invisible to African, Caribbean, and Asian communities.
According to official figures released by Sport England, 95% of Black adults and 80% of Black children do not swim, similarly 93% of Asian adults and 78% of Asian children do not swim.
Ed co-founded the Black Swimming Association (BSA) with Seren Jones, Danielle Obe and Alice Dearing. The BSA was set up two years ago to champion inclusivity, representation, and diversity in aquatics; highlighting the value of swimming as an essential life-saving skill and showcasing aquatic opportunities and aquatic career pathways which are otherwise invisible to African, Caribbean, and Asian communities.
According to official figures released by Sport England, 95% of Black adults and 80% of Black children do not swim, similarly 93% of Asian adults and 78% of Asian children do not swim.
The BSA is championing inclusivity, representation, and diversity in aquatics. As an adult only now learning how to swim after hiding behind the stereotypes and stigmas most of his life, Ed highlighted that there would come a point in time where this generational long cycle would have to be broken and that time is now.
His song writing took a turn in 2010 when he made the conscious decision to only make music that created social awareness. This was highlighted in 2016 when he wrote and dedicated the song Bear A Witness to a homeless person on the streets of London that had passed away not long after he had shared a burger with him outside McDonalds. As a result, he founded and run the Bear A Witness Homeless campaign for 2 years. Ed said this campaign was inspired by a conversation with a homeless man on a cold street of London.
He quoted “I recently had the pleasure of chatting with a very lovely homeless gentleman who through a series of unfortunate events and twist of fate had been living on the streets for the last 4 years. The gentleman, unfortunately, passed away not so long after the chance meeting. The campaign encouraged the general public to show an act of kindness to a rough sleeper they may pass on their daily travels. This was supported by a huge number of followers including The London Mayors team. To capture the reality of the homelessness situation, two official music videos, Bear a Witness and Street Link were shot in a real-life environment in London in areas renowned for homeless sleeping.
The next music project Ed embarked on would change his life forever.
Sat on a boat on holiday with friends and family in Barbados in August 2018, Ed wrote the song A Film Called Black Can’t Swim, highlighting his aquaphobia and inability to swim. The song was intended to highlight the issue with the disproportionate number of people of African, Caribbean, and Asian heritage that did not swim and encourage someone to make a film about it. Ed ended up making that film and the rest as they say is history.
Born in London and raised in the UK and Ghana. Ed Accura began to fulfil his passion for music in the ’90s with Street Jazz Productions. He wrote and produced his first release, the album Five X Five which was distributed under London’s indie label Timewarp. This album was engineered in Hackney, East London under the influence of Opaz Studios where Jazz-funk was thriving in the early ’90s.
The laid back infectious single Summer Jazz became an instant success on the UK underground scene. In 2003, Ed Accura co-founded the UK hip hop crew, 617, with D.R.A. and Bolistik. Together they stormed into the music scene with their successful debut album. The Vault which included the single, Always, which featured the then UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair! This attracted a lot of media attention and some unwanted attention from MI6. Encouraged by this remarkable achievement, 617 returned to the recording studio in 2005, to begin work on the follow-up album, Bittersweet, which was successfully released in October 2006. Ed Accura then went on to produce the last album from 617, Circa 74
After 3 successful independent albums with 617, Ed Accura went on to produce and release his debut Hip-hop solo album, Observations of a Social Misfit in 2010. He quoted” This is a social documentary, and the inspiration are all the people around me and the crazy things they do. Everything written is about something I had observed over the years. I was originally going to mention names but then decided it may not be such a good idea.” The album introduced Ed Accura to a whole new generation and fan base.
In 2011 Accura took a break away from Hip-hop to produce a Nu-Jazz project under the name NOIZE. The sound was experimental avant-garde and jazz-inspired which utilises authentic sounds and vibes to create the mood, planting a seed of thought for the listener to build their own version of the story. You can describe this is an audio version of a high-definition film written in 4D. This project gave birth to three albums, Silent Journey, Impressions of a Colourful Mind and “Late Night at the Karma Lounge” The next time you’re chilling at a bar sipping on your favourite drink and you hear that cool atmospheric blend of Hip-hop and Jazz, it could be NOIZE. Ed Accura returned to Hip-hop to produce the follow up to his debut solo hip-hop album with Return of the Social Misfit and then followed on with Talk 2 Frank.
