Akala: rapper, author, public intellectual – and friend of Angelina Jolie?

Since their appearance together at the Venice film festival, there has been much speculation about the pair

As the A-list stars assembled at the Venice film festival this autumn, there were few there more famous than Angelina Jolie, who generated Oscar buzz for her performance in Pablo Larraín’s biopic of Maria Callas.

But one of the most intriguing subplots didn’t take place on the big screen – in the audience at the film’s premiere, as a guest of Jolie, was Akala – the rapper, author and activist.