The spotlight on... AKA

By ZAlebs on 14 October 2015 at 12:15 · Comments

We take a closer look at South Africa's star rapper AKA, who recently snagged two major awards at the second annual African Muzik Magazine Awards (AFRIMMAs).

14 October 2015

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Every day we bring you the latest news on your favourite South African stars, but how much do you really know about them? Thanks to AKA for this suggestion. He mentioned us in his interview on MTV recently, so we have decided to start off with a little bit on this hip hop artist.

So here goes...

The basics...

Full Name: Kiernan Jarryd Forbes

Birthday: 28 January, 1988

Place of Birth: Cape Town, South Africa

What does he do? Rapper, Lyricist, Producer

So, who is AKA?

AKA is a South African rapper with huge popularity in the country. The 27-year-old has a knack for releasing hit tracks, with his collaborations just as important to his career as his solo work.

AKA's journey into hip hop started with the group Entity in 2002. His musical journey took him into the production side of things in 2007, with production collaborative The I.V. League working with artists such as Loyiso Bala, Teargas, and Khuli Chana.

The rapper's solo career kicked off in 2009, but his true breakout in the industry came with his 2014 release, Levels. The album shot his image to the top and ensured his standing as one of South Africa's hip hop stars. International appearances followed the album's success, with brand AKA growing on a daily basis.

A number of awards have been handed to AKA, with Levels the catalyst for them. However, his greatest achievement - in his own words, is his daughter Kairo, who was born in 2015. Kairo's mother is DJ Zinhle.

Sadly, AKA is never far from controversy, with his much-publicised beef with fellow South African rapper Cassper Nyovest a constant thorn in his side. His Twitter rants have also been an issue over the years. It doesn't stop there, though, as serious allegations of infidelity have given the star a few extra problems to contend with.

AKA has a bright future ahead of him, but a lot is going to rest on whether he can put the negativity behind him and grow into an even bigger artists than he already is.

AKA

What AKA has said...

On his beef with Cassper: "It actually is quite a lame story…one day he put out his video and the next day he had gone off about, ‘I don’t get the support, nobody’s really holding me down and I am going to put this song out and show everybody’. I think we kind of fell out about things he had said on Twitter. And I think it really just escalated from there, because once those lines were drawn…it just gathered steam to the point where it has been going on for two years now.”

On fame (Twitter): "I did not CHOOSE to be famous. I chose to make awesome music and fame came as a side effect."

On the treatment of local artists (Mail & Guardian): "I can't be the only person speaking out about it. We need to all stand together and say 'this is the minimum standard we are going to accept'. It can only change once we stop feeling like it is a great honour to open for these [international] artists. I don't think there actually is a need for local artists to open at these concerts – unless they grant the opportunity to up-and-coming artists."

On himself (IOL): "Smart, funny and ambitious."

AKA