Riky Rick: Dreaming of the future, planning for death

Just days before he committed suicide, rapper Riky Rick seemed upbeat, happy and excited about the future, friends and colleagues said this week.

His friend and business partner, Sheldon Tatchell, wept as he told the Sunday Times that they had spoken about plans to address youth unemployment, and how their Legends Barbershop chain could play a role.

“We brainstormed how we’d employ more youths; he was so passionate about it. We had plans to meet up this week to unpack it again and see what we could do. We had such big dreams,” Tatchell said. “The conversation wasn’t about the money we’d make, it was purely based on how we’d empower the youth.”   

People who work near the barbershop that Riky Rick ran at Waterfall Corner in Midrand said they had spoken to the rapper last Sunday, and that he had been happily greeting everyone.

Dakalo Singo and Nicole Ngwenya, who work at a store adjacent to the barbershop, said he would always greet everyone — he even hugged the tellers at Woolworths and bought the car guards gifts in December.

“He was always happy, he was very friendly,” Singo said.

This week the Legends store was closed but mourners gathered to light candles, lay wreaths and put balloons outside. 

Last week, in one of his last interviews,  Riky Rick — whose birth name was Rikhado Muziwendlovu Makhado —  spoke to the Sunday Times about his upcoming Cotton Fest music festival, scheduled for March 19 and 20. Tickets were sold out almost immediately.

“I’ve missed seeing people from different corners of the city coming together,” he said. “We make music to connect to something bigger than yourself so being on stage is the personal payoff for the artist and the listener. It’s the connection you can’t achieve online.

“The Cotton Fest experience is always unique because it’s about the people. The bells and whistles are only extras but we focus on presenting the new energy that is brought to the culture by the younger generation. It’s led by energy.

“After Cotton Fest we have exciting projects we are working on, so stay tuned.”

While Makhado had openly spoken about his history of depression, many fans are struggling to understand why he killed himself.

Possible factors mentioned include the psychological stresses caused by the pandemic, trolling of celebrities on social media and the stigma of talking about depression. 

Clinical psychologist Zamo Mbele said suicide is not necessarily triggered by a single cause. He said high-functioning individuals were “incredibly susceptible” to suicide.

“Not all suicides are in the context of depression — the majority are, but not everybody needs to be in the pits of despair. Sometimes they’re in the pit of performance, pressure and action. Sometimes we’re in the pit of shame and humiliation where suicide is contemplated.”

Mbele said that the pressure to perform could be a double-edged sword.

“Sometimes our fragility is contained or masked. What is helpful for those fragilities is that when a person is performing, it allows for them not to show themselves. However, [the fragilities] never go away, they can always come up if not dealt with.”

On Friday, Makhado's family announced that his funeral would be a private ceremony in Johannesburg on Tuesday March 1, but it would be live-streamed. A memorial service will follow on Friday, when close friends, family and selected media will gather for a “tribute celebration”. This will also be live-streamed.

The family thanked the public for the outpouring of love they said they had received. They were “deeply moved by the global outpouring of support over the past three days”.

Former rapper Siya Metane, founder of the SlikourOnLife website, said it was Makhado's kindness that made him special.

Metane went to interview Makhado two weeks ago. The rapper was an hour late but was “very apologetic” and offered to help the film crew set up the equipment, Metane said.

“He had good things to say, we all left feeling inspired, there were no signs of anything [untoward]. Riky is the physical example of human excellence and being perfect. For those who never knew Riky the entertainer, Riky was very vulnerable,” Metane said.

“Some of my most memorable moments were the calls. He’d call me every three months and we’d talk about everything.”

Rapper Boity Thulo, who met Makhado when she was in varsity and scored a role in one of his first music videos in 2009, this week told of Makhado's love and energy.

Describing him as energetic and passionate, Thulo said Makhado always made her believe in herself.

“What you saw on stage, that was him all the time but not in an overwhelming way, he was always present. Whether it was in the studio, at the dining table or an event, he had an energy that always made people feel seen.”

At 3.20am on the morning of his death, Makhado took to Twitter to post a line from his 2020 song Home: “I’ll return a stronger man. This land is still my home.”

Hours later his death was confirmed.

It was not the only cryptic reference he made in recent weeks — during one of his final shows, he told the audience: “I’m about to be out but if you never see me again, if you never hear from me again, I want you to remember that you have to take care of the people close to you, make sure they are safe, make sure they make it through 2022.”

In a 2020 interview with rapper Yanga Chief, Riky openly spoke about his battle with depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. In the podcast he spoke about the loss of his father and the toll that took on his mental health.

“I always said my first album will be my last album because I didn’t expect to make it past 25, I didn’t expect to make it past 26. I wanted to go out young like Tupac, I wanted to die young like Tupac, I wanted to die like a Kurt Cobain. Suicidal thoughts are not anything new to me,” Riky said at the time.

Hilton College, where Makhado went to school, said in a statement it was deeply saddened to learn of his death. 

High school friend Mbulelo Balfour described Makhado as “full of life”, saying he was a born entertainer who was always singing in the shower. The rapper attended Balfour’s wedding in September last year and gave a speech.

“He was such a vibrant, fun presence. He made everyone feel good about themselves. He was a leader. And while he had very strong opinions, he was able to bring us, as a group, together, because of his enthusiasm,” Balfour said in the Hilton College statement.  

This week Kiernan Jarryd Forbes, the rapper who goes by AKA, posted on social media about the mental health of South African men.

“[Of] the last five people I know who took their own lives, four of them are men. I’ve seen so much suicide over the past year I can’t even feel anything any more,” he said. 

“I hope that very soon we can address the issue of how damaged and broken the men in this country are. We have no-one to talk to, we just pat each other on the back and say ‘get on with it, be strong my boi’ ...  but in reality, we are traumatised. Generational trauma passed down to us.”

Other well-known figures who have committed suicide in recent years include actor/activist Patrick Shai and hip-hop legend Jabulani “HHP” Tsambo.

DEPRESSION: WHO TO SPEAK TO

For help, call Sadag's suicide helpline 0800 567 567, Sadag helplines 0800 456 789 / 0800 21 22 23/ 0800 70 80 90 or SMS 31393 or go to www.sadag.org.