AK Dawg (rapper)

Jack O'Connor (real name Rizwan Ismail bin Izzudin) (born May 9th 1975, age 44) known professionally as AK Dawg, is a Singaporean rapper and ex-convicted felon residing in Houston, Texas. He is known for his style of stage appearance and his use of a stereotypical "black man" character.

Career launch
Rizwan started his career in 2003 under the stage name "Rizzi". At that time he worked as a DJ in a local nightclub. In 2004, he started doing his own tracks. His original genres were chiptune and synthwave. He also started doing raps.

Rise to fame
After publishing his first rap song, "Blue Eyes in the Dark" in 2006, Rizwan quickly shot to fame. At that same time, he began appearing in his "black criminal" persona, replete with mask, gloves and shades, and changed his name to fit with his persona. Rizwan has neither shown his face nor revealed his real name, except in a documentary on Mediacorp's news channel CNA in 2018 titled "Under the Black Man's Skin". In 2009, he moved to Houston with his family in order to pursue his career.

Collaboration era
Rizwan did his first collaboration in 2013 with British singer Anne-Marie Rose Nicholson and American violinist Lindsay Stirling. It was titled "Falling Backwards". He was then appointed as the brand ambassador for Mediacorp Channel 5 in 2015.

Revelation and Anugerah Juara Lagu
Rizwan's daily life and behind the scenes were revealed in a CNA documentary (see above) in 2018. The year later, he participated in the Malaysian song contest Anugerah Juara Lagu with his song "Sauce Me".

Personal life
In real life he is married to Malaysian children's book writer Fauziah Zainudin bin Nurhaliza, and have 3 children namely Farhan, Faiz and Siti.

On-stage persona
Rizwan's on-stage persona is Jack O'Connor, an archetypal black man, who is a college football player by day and a gang leader by night. His nickname doubles as his stage name. He claims to be American in his lyrics, and his move to Houston helped reinforce this claim. He also goes as his other fictional character "Josh Nizam", removing the mask and gloves, dressing like a typical pop singer and playing a spoof of pop opera and orchestral pop songs.

Dvoreki incident
In 2019, Malichkan rapper Skidude was fired upon outside the Hotel Jagode in Dvoreki. No fatalities were reported, although a bodyguard suffered a gunshot wound to his left eye. Rizwan admitted to being the shooter and pleaded guilty to assault, brandishing firearms, and attempted first-degree murder, and was sentenced to 400 hours community service. He has since given up his crimes and now limits his criminal behavior to his on-stage character.

Trivia

 * He has autism and was diagnosed with Tourettes syndrome at a young age.
 * He likes chili crab and nasi briyani.
 * He supports Kosovar independence.
 * He is against Nazism and has expressed his disgust at the Holocaust.