AKA accuses iFani of funny business
Two local rappers are trading verbal punches on Twitter after Xhosa rapper iFani claimed to have sold 20000 copies of his latest album on the day of its release. But rapper Kiernan "AKA" Forbes has disputed the figure, claiming that iFani's sponsors bought the bulk of the CDs.By the Recording Industry of South Africa's standards, 20000 sales accord an album gold status.Disputing that iFani could reach gold status in a day while his own album, Levels, has yet to reach that milestone, AKA tweeted: "If a brand bought 20000 iFani albums, surely I could get someone to buy the remaining 2K right?"AKA claimed the Port Elizabeth born rapper benefited from his involvement in a recent advert for alcoholic beverage Redds.Redds South Africa tweeted: "We support local talent and we are proud of @iFani_Haymani. The brand did not have any involvement in buying copies of the album."RISA operations director David du Plessis said: "There is a difference between an artist claiming to have gone gold verbally and an artist who has applied for certification from RISA."[Applying for] certification means producing the documentation and evidence from the manufacturer of the amounts of units made and shipped by the manufacturer of the CDs as well as producing the documentation from the buyers, which could be music stores such as Musica and iTunes."Certainly, AKA is no believer in iFani, tweeting: "Let me tell you something, when Redds starts dishing out iFani albums remember that I f**king told you so. Be on the lookout, iFani and Redds will give you copies of this album. Not a f**king maybe. It's a guarantee."But as far as iFani is concerned, the album's success is the result of months of nationwide touring, including shows in townships such as Maletsa in Limpopo and Mdantsane in East London.Said iFani: "I am pissed off and confused why AKA would even be so bothered by all this. As an artist, I would have rather asked how an artist can do this so I can learn and do the same for my own music, but we are not the same, I guess."In the US, an artist has to sell 500000 copies of an album to be accorded gold status while the UK accords gold status to albums that sell 60000 copies...
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