Anon the Griot
SFC Awards:
The Juice – 2018
Wordplay Master – 2019
Cypher Master – 2019
Before he was Anon the Griot, he was Ahmariah Jackson — a quiet kid split between Kankakee, Illinois and Helena, Arkansas. Raised in a deeply religious household, his early world was full of structure, tradition, and a soundtrack of “gospel-only” rules. Everything else was “the blues. ” But somewhere between Sunday sermons and small-town silences, he began to feel the pull of something more — a voice forming inside him that wasn’t allowed to speak yet in the “children are seen not heard” atmosphere of his upbringing.
His discovery of Hip Hop changed everything. Swept up by Nas and Rakim, he penned verses, freestyled with friends and battled in school halls. As a kid who felt unseen and unheard, he found power in the pen. Poetry and literature became his escape, then his weapon, then his calling. That calling would shape a mission: to be a voice for the voiceless.
The name Anon the Griot tells it all. At first he was simply known as “Anonymous. ” But in time the “the Griot” was added—an heir to the West African storytellers who carried history, memory, and medicine in their words. He doesn’t rap for spectacle—he raps to preserve, to provoke, and tell stories often left untold. His work is layered, thematic, constantly flipping ideas and full of rewind value, crafted not for clout, but clarity.
Anon the Griot’s first experience with Soul Food Cypher came after months of nudging from Joe Stu. “I don’t join things, ” he says. But once he showed up, he was immediately enthralled—not just by the talent, but by the heart. “I came from a battle background—tearing people down. But SFC gave me a space to park my mature self, my rhymes, my life in a way that made sense. ” Here, he found something deeper: a room full of dope MCs who genuinely cared about each other. For Anon the Griot, the cypher isn’t about outshining—it’s about uplifting. He’s become the "uncle" of the circle, cheering on others, drawing out their greatness, and pushing each MC to express their authentic voice as he shouts “‘EAT!” “I’m just as excited to see my people shine as I am to rhyme. ” And when it’s his turn to step into the cypher, he masterfully and aggressively educates with a bragadocious delivery, constantly flipping ideas you think you fully knew to cause you to discover something new through story and thought.
Outside the cypher, he has spent over 15 years in education, from high school students to group home youth. His approach centers on voice, autonomy, and self-discovery—principles Nas, Rakim, KRS One, N.W.A. and Public Enemy first taught him. “Hip Hop has allowed me to incorporate knowledge of self, of purpose, discovering who you are and the value of your voice into education… Not every kid will rap, but almost every kid has a connection to the culture, ” he says. “If I can build a bridge between what they think they know and who they really are, I’m doing my job. ” As an educator and MC, he’s aware that his words carry weight and is committed to making a positive impact as generations of students watch.
Hip-Hop gave Anon the Griot his voice. Now, he gives it back to others, reminding the world that behind every silenced voice there’s a story that matters and deserves to be told.