Gabriel ‘DyspOra’ Akon is an award-winning Hip-Hop recording Artist, Sonic Activist, Poet & founder of the playback 808 Kingdom. The nomadic troubadour was born in South Sudan and raised across various locations in East Africa until his family migrated to the South Australian city of Adelaide.


After spending his formative years in a Refugee camp in Kenya, DyspOra saw music as a key tool in breaking down cultural, lingual and racial barriers which led him to begin writing poetry at the age of 12 & had graduated to writing rhymes by the time he was in high school. He began releasing weekly freestyle videos on YouTube in early 2010 and it was during these sporadic sessions with local producers Luke iLL and Meta Beats where he was inspired to create the playback 808 imprint and began recruiting team members and future label mates.

The Playback 808 founder is the current ambassador for the Timpir Foundation which provides education to more than 1400 Children in South Sudan. He has performed at major events including Clipsal 500, Listen Out Festival, Root Down Festival, Miss Africa, Groovin The Moo, Scouted festival & Sanaa festival. These performances have allowed him to share the stage with Skepta, Skrillex, Paul Kelly, Hilltop Hoods, Amine, HorrorShow, Seth Sentry, Thundamentals, Funkoars, Kerser, Masego and Man Made Mountain. DyspOra released his long awaited ‘AUSTRALIEN’ project in April 2019.

Gabriel ‘DyspOra’ Akon is an award-winning Hip-Hop recording Artist, Sonic Activist, Poet & founder of the playback 808 Kingdom. The nomadic troubadour was born in South Sudan and raised across various locations in East Africa until his family migrated to the South Australian city of Adelaide. 
After spending his formative years in a Refugee camp in Kenya, DyspOra saw music as a key tool in breaking down cultural, lingual and racial barriers which led him to begin writing poetry at the age of 12 & had graduated to writing rhymes by the time he was in high school. He began releasing weekly freestyle videos on YouTube in early 2010 and it was during these sporadic sessions with local producers Luke iLL and Meta Beats where he was inspired to create the playback 808 imprint and began recruiting team members and future label mates.

The Playback 808 founder is the current ambassador for the Timpir Foundation which provides education to more than 1400 Children in South Sudan. He has performed at major events including Clipsal 500, Listen Out Festival, Root Down Festival, Miss Africa, Groovin The Moo, Scouted festival & Sanaa festival. These performances have allowed him to share the stage with Skepta, Skrillex, Paul Kelly, Hilltop Hoods, Amine, HorrorShow, Seth Sentry, Thundamentals, Funkoars, Kerser, Masego and Man Made Mountain. DyspOra released his long awaited ‘AUSTRALIEN’ project in April 2019.

Join us as we chat with inspirational Australians making a real difference in their
communities, Australia and often the world.


Be inspired by ordinary Australians achieving extraordinary things!

Join us as we chat with inspirational Australians making a real difference in their communities, Australia and often the world.
 Be inspired by ordinary Australians achieving extraordinary things!

Inspirational.Australians by Awards Australia Podcast

In this week’s episode, Josh is talking to Gabriel Akon, known as DyspOra who was a Semi-Finalist in the 2019 7NEWS Young Achiever Awards, South Australia.

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