Forget the country, AKA wants to take over the world

22 August 2011 - 14:56 By Sanelisiwe Maliza
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Times LIVE caught up with AKA when he was performing at Wits University to find out about life after Entity, his upcoming album and life as a m'rapper in South Africa.

Few may remember the young boy that was one third of a hip hop group called Entity. He was skinny, light-skinned, had cute boyish looks and he went by the name Kiernan Forbes. Well, he grew up to be a man called AKA: rapper, three-time Channel O Music Video Award nominee and ambassador for urban clothing line Head Honcho.

A lot has happened for Kiernan since his days in Entity.

Firstly, the 23-year-old has definitely lost his boyish looks. To take a line from American rapper Drake, he is "fine, like a ticket on the dash". With charming good looks, I am sure he has gathered his fair share of female admirers.

Professionally, his career has blown up. Signed to Showlove Music as a solo act, AKA has catapulted into the music industry. He flaunts three massive hits under his belt: I Want It All, Victory Lap and All I Know. Victory Lap being the biggest of the three songs, he broke records by simultaneously reaching number one on music charts of both 5FM and Metro FM, radio stations with two completely different target markets - no minor feat.

“I am the truth, soundtrack of the youth,”  AKA  says in High School Cool, a song from a previous EP 24 / 7/ 366, released online in 2009.

Looking around at the crowd of  several hundreds gathered at Wits University it is hard to dispute his sentiments. The crowd sings and dances along to his every song, the ladies scream in his presence. Even with no album out you are forced  to admit that “AKA is a beast, he is a problem”.  

Dressed in black skinny jeans, the new Kaizer Chiefs top and black sneakers, he definitely looks like a rapper. But he is surprisingly courteous and charming, not quite the hardcore egotistical rapper he has been made out to be.

“I'm very grounded and I'm just very, very confident and sometimes my confidence may be interpreted as arrogance or sometimes my confidence intimidates other people,” he says.

Asked where he sees himself in the next five years, AKA says: "I'll probably be the biggest artist in the country, the biggest artist in the continent and hopefully I'll be abroad."

Achieving his first goal doesn't seem too difficult, with songs charting on several radio stations, his All I Know music video on high rotation on television stations such as MTV Base, Channel O and Trace, three award nominations for the upcoming Channel O  Music Video Awards. One could easily argue that he already is the biggest hip hop artist in the country.

To try dethrone Dbanj as the biggest hip hop artist on the continent and break out internationally will probably be the biggest challenges of his career.

This week AKA moves a step to reaching these goals by releasing his much anticipated album AltarEgo. "You can expect it to be very personal, expect it to be a classic," he says.

"You can expect it to be of a very high standard. I'm very close to my music. It's taken so long cause I want it be perfect," he says.

The 17-track album includes the reggae-inspired song Reign which features Buffalo Soldier and Snakes and Ladders (AKA's personal favourite). Khuli Chana is also featured on the album with a song called Bang. AltarEgo also includes songs from 24/7/366 such as High School Cool and Mistakes. The skits/ interludes are performed by comedian Loyiso Gola.

AltarEgo will probably be one of the most prominent albums of the summer, but with CD sales at an all time low across the world, the jury is still out on how AltarEgo will perform  in terms of sales.

"I don't know what it will do, I don't want to jinx it,” says AKA. “I think it will do well ...If it doesn't do well, I know that I put out the best music I could."

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