Hip-Hop Artist, Educator and Producer Toki Wright Joins The Current

Oct 31, 2017

The Current has announced Toki Wright will join the station as its newest on-air host. Wright, a hip-hop artist, educator and producer, will join Team Current in late November to develop and host a new hip-hop show for the station that will begin airing in early 2018.

An integral presence of the hip-hop scene, Wright has released music with BJ The Chicago Kid, Talib Kweli, Big Cats, G Yamazawa and Atmosphere. As an artist, he has toured the world with Brother Ali, Devin The Dude, Evidence of Dilated Peoples, J-Live and several others. With years of experience and numerous accolades, Wright has released music on Rhymesayers Entertainment and his own label, Soul Tools, charting on MTV Top 10, iTunes Top 50, and more.

A two-time Emmy Award-winning MC and a two-time CLIO Award-winning producer, he was nominated for a Cannes Lions Award for his work as co-curator of the "Watch the Stove" mixtape for Hamburger Helper, one of the biggest viral marketing campaigns of 2016.

Under the moniker "Mamadu," Wright has made lasting contributions to the genre, producing for various artists from the Midwest, Africa, and Europe. A regularly touring arts ambassador and artist, he also has performed and conducted workshops in Uganda, China, Croatia, Canada and Sierra Leone.

As an educator and community organizer, his efforts have spanned the globe--leading the nationally recognized youth organization YO! The Movement (featured in "The Source" magazine), coordinating seven Twin Cities Celebration of Hip-Hop Festivals, and teaching hip-hop history and performance to former child soldiers in Gulu, Northern Uganda with the organization H.E.A.L.S.

Wright also serves as the Department Head of the nation's first fully accredited hip-hop studies program by the National Association of Schools of Music at McNally Smith College.