Intimate Conversation with Wali Akidele and Andrew Jones

Intimate Conversation with Wali Akidele and Andrew Jones





Wali Akindele was born and raised in North Philadelphia's Nicetown/Tioga section where he quickly learned dedication and perseverance. Fast forward to 2011 when he received a yellow envelope from the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, inside was an untitled, unfinished manuscript sent by his close friend and now label mate Andrew Jones, who shortly after received a life imprisonment sentence. Wali believed in this untitled work of art so much that he read the unfinished novel three times. 

Finally mustering up the nerve to put his pen to the paper he completed the manuscript and named it “15th District Chronicles of the 19124.” After receiving accolade for his first attempt at writing he penned two more features, a short story called “Tha Choice is Urs....Memoirs of The Block,” the first edition of “Tha Choice is Urs” series, and “Milligrams A Philadelphia Epidemic.” Out of his love for literature and his new found love for writing Wali Akindele, and his wife Ilene Akindele founded Prolific Concept Productions. Merging his old indoctrination of the hustle, and his entrepreneurial spirit Wali strives to make Prolific Concept Productions the publishing company of the future....

Andrew Jones is a new author from Philadelphia, PA. His awkward style of writing, and rapid pace of storyline left publisher, Wali Akindele, with no alternative other than to extend a deal. With the help of Prolific Concept Productions, Andrew’s first novel “15th District Chronicles of the 19124,” was set to hit stores in February, 2014. Andrew is currently working on his second novel. With an all-star roster of authors he aspires to reach for new heights and embrace deeper lessons. 

Andrew is best described as being humble and truly ambitious. He is not afraid to explore subjects that are considered controversial by most authors. Andrew promises to touch on every subject that crosses your mind: race, love, sickness, brutality, mental health and much more. Persuading more people to wrote and read more is a personal goal of Andrew. He encourages everyone to help fight the war against literacy.

BPM: Introduce us to your current work. Do you have any favorite characters?
Thank you for honoring us with this interview, Ella. My name is Olawale (Wali) Akindele and I am the C.E.O. of Prolific Concept Productions LLC. I am also the co-author of “15th District Chronicles of the 19124,” along with Andrew Jones. This novel is our first feature that Prolific Concept Productions will be dropping. I would like to introduce to you Mike, Reese, and Rell. Mike ultimately serves as the subsequent leader of the trio being the most strategic out of the group. His ambition, and hunger for more is equivalently shared by Maurice (Reese) Brown who plays the position of Mike's second in command / enforcer. 

Reese's thirst for the fast life and pretty women are enhanced when he is introduced to the psych medicine Xanex (zannies) which makes things only take a turn for the worst. It is said the tragedy comes in three's first Mike commits a murder putting the crews organizations in limbo, second Reese is apprehended for the murder Mike unjustly committed refusing to flip on his best friend and mentor, and finally third counterpart of the squad Slim who played the role of the teams supporting cast carrying a third of the workload is abruptly killed in a botch robbery gone wrong…

To be honest my favorite character is a split between Mike, Reese, and Rell who is Slim's son because all 3 of the characters are based on real people that I personally know. Mike actually is loosely based around some of my characteristics…

BPM: Which character or topic in the book can you identify with the most? Why?
I think I can personally identify with Reese and Mike the most because first and foremost I am Mike, and Mike is me to a certain degree. I would like to thank Andrew Jones for loosely basing this character around some my personality traits when I was at a particular point in my life. The topic that reenacts a time when the Frankford section of the city was at its worst, during this period Andrew Jones, and I was knee deep in the middle of the mayhem that existed in the 15th District of Philadelphia.

BPM: Does your upbringing of life experiences inspire your writing?
Absolutely! The city of Philadelphia is a rough place well known as the murder capital of America for years to come. To survive in such a harsh environment there is no way that you will not have a story to tell, so yes I definitely use my upbringing in my material.

BPM: How do you go about reaching new readers? What would you like for readers to take away from your writing?
I personally take responsibility to bring forth the gritty reality that looms largely over the city of Philadelphia, shedding light on the ills of the streets with the possibility to effect change. Sometimes all it takes is to pull the wool from over the eyes of 1 individual to effect that transition of change…

BPM: How do you feel about eBooks? Have they helped your business to grow?
I think eBooks are good for business as far as cost sufficiency especially being a new publishing company.
As far as potential growth of course eBooks, it put you on a much larger scale. On a worldwide level in my opinion it creates a conveniences unmatched to anything thing that a bookstore could provide.

BPM: What are your goals as a writer? Do you set out to educate or entertain? Illuminate a particular subject? Inspire?
My goal as a writer is not only to entertain, but to educate the consumer of what life is like on the other side of the tracks. The news doesn't always cover the story from the point of view of the people that actually suffer from the negativity that they are forced to live around, and the poverty that makes the people involved except these same negative realities as the norm.

BPM: How can readers discover more about you and you work?
Twitter and Instagram: @ProlificConcept
Prolific Concept: www.prolificconceptpro.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/ProlificConceptProductions