The rise of rapper AKA

14 November 2014 - 15:42 By Shanthini Naidoo
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Rope-a-dope: Rapper AKA's moniker is a nod to his many roles in the music industry.
Rope-a-dope: Rapper AKA's moniker is a nod to his many roles in the music industry.
Image: Simphiwe Nkwali

No matter what you may think of where the bar is set for attaining celebrity status in South Africa, rapper AKA has cleared it by a mile

Just ask the Idols contestants he mentored at a recent training session. They hugged him. One asked for an autograph on his copy of his second album, Levels. He responded warmly. "You got the album, I appreciate it, dog." Fist bump.

In person, AKA (aka Kiernan Forbes) comes across younger and softer than the bravado-drenched persona who lounges on leather couches in his music videos.

Not that the 26-year-old lacks self-confidence. "AKA, also known as . it's about all the things I do. Producer. Songwriter. Hip-hop artist. Many things." He laughs a boyish laugh - nearly a giggle - flashing his grill on his lower teeth. It makes him lisp slightly.

Forbes says his success - including an array of Samas, Metros and Channel O awards - comes down to "a degree of luck".

"If I was doing English hip-hop five years prior to when I started, it wouldn't have worked. I think I played a big part in changing the face of hip-hop in South Africa because I did it at the right time," he says.

Alongside other leading rappers, AKA took local hip-hop into the mainstream.

After doing time with a boy band in his teens, he studied sound engineering, then joined production collective The IV League in 2007. He produced for big names - including Khuli Chana, Shugasmakx, Teargas and Proverb - before going solo. Kind of a South African Dr Dre.

Living large

If it's the rapper's dream life Forbes is after, he's just about there

He has the entourage, whom he calls his friends and business partners. "Only one of my friends does not work with me. We are bound by ambition and progress."

Then there's the stylist, Storm - a Pharrell lookalike. For Idols, Forbes bares his skin in a denim vest embellished with a distressed US flag. Then there's a heavy gold neckpiece, rings and high-tops.

A video crew shadows him, filming for The Sheen, his YouTube channel. He is huge on social media, with half a million followers on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

It follows that the local tabloids love him - his penthouse apartment in Newtown is apparently staked out by spies. They claim to have recorded fights with his alleged girlfriend of two years, DJ Zinhle.

Are they together? She claims they are. "I'm saying no, and that's my business. If she says different, that's what she has to say."

He's a bit of a heart throb. Sometimes he has to deal with "overzealous" fans turning up at his place.

AKA's spare time is often dedicated to twarring and fwarring with competing artists. The latest showdown was with Cassper Nyovest, named the number one rapper in Africa by MTV Base. Forbes came in at number four. The beef between the two seems to have amped up their popularity. They drop singles on the same day, post competing updates on their iTunes sales - and had some real-life drama after Forbes's bodyguard allegedly pulled a gun on Nyovest. So gangsta.

"My Twitter and Instagram is myself, where I connect with the fans. Run-ins are a by-product of what I do. It's okay," he says with a pout.

From a childhood in a leafy burb to pan-African rap glory

Forbes speaks with the American flavour favoured by young, hip Joburgers. And he rolls his Rs like a bruiser from a ruff neighbourhood. Yet he's a private-schooled Joburger who swapped his St John's tie for the gold chains.

And there is no 'hood, unless you consider Greenside - where there are more plane trees than humans - a 'hood.

He comes from a regular family, mostly Capetonian.

"We moved to Joburg when I was seven. My dad still lives in Cape Town and is in IT. My mum works for me now and is involved in a charity called Impilo."

Forbes caresses the patchy rug at his throat that may be trying to become a beard.

"When I sat my parents down and said, 'Thank you for the private schooling but I want to get in to my music,' they were scared but excited. They knew I got my love for music from my dad - he was always playing music in our home. And they trusted I could do it. So now it's time for congratulations."

His single Congratulate topped the charts this year.

Taking things to the next level

AKA is not a rap poet in the 2Pac, Guru or Eminem vein. But his music is clubby and sellable.

"I feel like I'm at a level three of where I want to be, right now," he says.

What is level 10? "Billions and billions of dollars," he says in a silly US accent.

His social media handle may be akaworldwide, but he's after the African dollar. A realistic strategy.

"Why not be big in Africa? The States know what they want and consume it. There are lots of dollars on the continent. Thanks to music channels, they know me in Ghana. Congo. Mali. There is instant recognition when I go there."

"People are buying my album. In the rest of Africa, people support African artists. Look at MiCasa and Mafikizolo."

It irks him that South Africans don't buy African music.

"When you're in Ghana you will hear 80% West African music. In SA you hear 80% international music. What's that about?"

AKA is building and monetising his brand: he is the face of Grey Goose vodka and Nike.

"Music industry sales have gone down so I have to look at campaigns. Brands. Endorsements. Micro-sawft. Apple." He boy-giggles.

And he finds time to box and play football.

"Otherwise, I am on my couch watching sport - supporting Man United," he raises a fist and the tattoo of a young Michael Jackson pops up on his bicep. "Michael, only the greatest artist, ever."

There is also a tattoo of Africa, a lion for courage, and the word "Legendary." At 26? "Not yet. I'll be there one day. Just give me some time."

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