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Fly Anakin
Fly Anakin in 2021, taken from the Frank promotional photoshoot by Timothy Saccenti
Background information
Birth name	Frank L. Walton, Jr. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Born	(1994-07-09) July 9, 1994 (age 29)
Genres	Hip hop
Years active	2014–present
Labels	Lex Records Mutant Academy
Website	flyanakin.com

Frank L. Walton, Jr ^[5] (born July 9, 1994), better known by his stage name Fly Anakin is an American rapper and record producer from Richmond, Virginia. He is the co-founder of Richmond hip hop crew Mutant Academy.

Early life

Fly Anakin was raised in Richmond, Virginia. As a child he was a regular church goer. ^[6] His older brother introduced him to rap albums including Ghostface Killah's Ironman, Jay Z's Reasonable Doubt and Hot Boys' Guerrilla Warfare. His later influences included Jeezy, Kendrick Lamar and Curren$y. ^{[2] [7] [3]}

Career

Fly Anakin released his first mixtape in 2014, Mirrors_episode1, with future Mutant Academy member Ewonee. ^[3] This was the first of over a dozen self-released mixtapes and EPs. Fly Anakin played in shows and in homes in Richmond. ^[4]

He signed to Lex Records in 2019, releasing a collaborative album with Pink Siifu, FlySiifu's in November 2020, followed by an EP, $mokebreak in April 2021. ^[8] In 2022, Fly Anakin released his debut solo studio LP Frank which included production from Madlib, Evidence and Mutant Academy members. ^{[9] [10]} According to Metacritic, the album received "universal acclaim" from critics, with a score of 84. ^[11] Following its release, Frank also featured in several lists of the best albums of "2022 (so far)" including Complex, HipHopDX, Paste, The Quietus and Uproxx. ^{[12] [13] [14] [15] [16]}

In March 2022, Fly Anakin performed several shows at SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, including sets at the Lex showcase and the Song Exploder showcase. ^{[17] [18]} The following month he supported Armand Hammer on a short run of European shows at venues including XOYO, London and Le Botanique, Brussels and Le Bellevilloise, Paris. ^{[19] [20] [21]}

A concert scheduled on the 5 May 2022 in Lyon, France was cancelled by the local concert promoter ^[22] when Fly Anakin vetoed an opening act following an argument between the promoter and Fly Anakin's booking agent. The booking agent wrote an e-mail to the promoter stating: "All artists choose who they perform with because this is their art form, not yours. Nor is it your culture either, from what I understand. Fly Anakin wants to celebrate his culture, hop-hop, with Black artists..." The incident was reported in French media including the local Lyon newspaper Le Progrès, and national media including Marianne and BFM TV website. ^{[23] [22] [24]} Marianne noted that Fly Anakin "...denied any discriminatory will on his part, rather evoking a musical problem: the envisaged artist was not up to the task, he told the Progress on Thursday." ^[23]

In November 2022 Fly Anakin and Madlib released a reworking of "No Dough" from Frank. ^[25] At the end of the 2022 Metacritic ranked Frank as the “best reviewed debut” rap album of the year, and the ninth best reviewed debut album across all genres. ^[26] On 5 April 2023, Skinemaxxx (Side A) EP was released. ^[27]

Discography

Studio albums

• At the End of the Day (2020)
• Frank (2022) ^[1]

Collaborative albums

• Open House (with Henny L.O) (2014)
• Chapel Drive (with Koncept Jack$on) (2017)
• Panama Plus (with Koncept Jack$on & TUAMIE) (2017)
• Backyard Boogie (with Ohbliv) (2018)
• Emergency Raps, Vol. 4 (with TUAMIE) (2019)
• Holly Water (with Big Kahuna OG) (2019)
• FlySiifu's (with Pink Siifu) (2020) ^[28]
• Skinemaxxx (Side A) (with Foisey) (2023)
• Skinemaxxx (Side B) (with Foisey) (2023)

Extended plays

• mirrors_episode.1 (with Ewonee) (2014)
• Elsewhere Ave. (2015)
• The Grand Scheme of Things (2016)
• Velvet Type Joints (2016)
• People Like Us (2017)
• Anakin & Friends: Episode 1 (2021)
• $mokebreak (with Pink Siifu) (2021) ^[29]
• Pixote (2021)
• mirrors_episode.2 (with Ewonee) (2022)
• Stop Tryna Hack My Facebook (2023)

References

External links

• Official website
• Fly Anakin discography at Discogs