South african hip hop news8/9/2023 ![]() ![]() He bruised several fragile egos on the slippery slope upwards. Unquestionably, AKA’s single-minded drive to reach the apex of the hip-hop scene rubbed many up the wrong way. He may not have been the most lyrical rapper or most gifted musician of his generation, but he certainly had the audacity to be a once-in-a-generation pop culture icon. ![]() His chest-thumping rants about his mega status and liberties – even when cringe-worthy – are also inimitable. Undoubtedly, the African music landscape is diminished by his untimely death. It has been marked by fierce rivalries between cities and genres, and by guns, gangs, drugs, misogyny, violence, incarceration and death.ĪKA embraced his self-anointed mission as a hip-hop star whole-heartedly. Johannesburg’s scene generally follows more commercial imperatives, often cloning US rap culture.Ĭommercial US hip-hop, generally speaking, is defined by conspicuous self-aggrandisement, photogenic babes and bling. From the start, with his 2011 breakout single, Victory Lap, it seemed AKA was born for the role of top dog in a highly competitive and adversarial hip-hop scene.Ĭape Town is regarded as the birthplace of conscious hip-hop in the country. He was based in the country’s biggest city, Johannesburg, where he hunkered down atop the hip-hop food chain for more than a decade. The 35-year-old AKA was born in Cape Town as Kiernan Jarryd Forbes – and would later also tag himself as Supa Mega or Bhova. The ghastly manner of his death, apparently an orchestrated hit as captured by CCTV footage, is a first in the South African music industry and has had international reverberations. It’s reported that AKA was killed in a cold-blooded shooting, a recurring theme of gangsta rap culture. _Author: Sanya Osha _ĪKA, South Africa’s most recognisable name in hip-hop, was gunned down – with his friend, celebrity chef Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane – outside a restaurant along Durban’s popular night spot Florida Road on 10 February. This article was first published by The Conversation. ![]()
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