AKA: Sensational Rapper Becomes Victim Of Incessant Killing In South Africa
AKA worked with Nigerian music heavyweights, Burna Boy, Ice Prince, Kiddomant in the 2010s to emerge as one of the most sensational imports in the country’s music industry.
The South African rapper whose real name is Kiernan Jarryd Forbes was shot dead in the coastal city of Durban, along with a friend, his family said on Saturday, February 11. The devastating news stunned fans of the rapper across the globe.
MDB reported that was killed with his close friend, chef and entrepreneur Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane as they were walking towards their car from a restaurant.
ALSO READ: AKA, South-African Rapper Shot Dead
The motive of the killing is under investigation.
“It is with extreme sadness that we acknowledge the passing of our beloved son,” his parents Tony and Lynn Forbes said in a statement posted on AKA’s Twitter account. “Our son was loved, and he gave love in return.”
The statement read further, “In this time of grief we appeal for your compassion, space and time to congregate as family to decide on the upcoming days. We thank you for the love and support we have received thus far, and ask you to continue to keep us in your prayers and uplifted in the Lord.”
Read the full statement below.
— AKA (@akaworldwide) February 11, 2023
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The Final Hours Of AKA
Hours prior to the shock event, AKA posted on Twitter about his upcoming album, Mass Country, which is set for release later this month.
The video was scheduled for release on the 27th of this month.
His post on Twitter read, “Looking forward to interacting with you on the Ⓜ️EGACY ☎️ HOTLINE as we roll out MASS COUNTRY … I’ll be doing video calls, chats, exclusive snippets and all things great as we move towards the 24th of Feb. Chat soon!!!”
Looking forward to interacting with you on the Ⓜ️EGACY ☎️ HOTLINE as we roll out MASS COUNTRY … I’ll be doing video calls, chats, exclusive snippets and all things great as we move towards the 24th of Feb. Chat soon!!!
— AKA (@akaworldwide) February 10, 2023
In a video that surfaced before the shooting, AKA was seen hanging out at Wish On Florida Restaurant with several of his friends and colleagues. Barely two hours after his visit to the restaurant, the rapper was brutally shot.
Watch the video below.
https://twitter.com/OleleSalvador/status/1624173521613070336?s=20&t=vo__mcXTIoQLgHslwMUMQw
A Victim Of Gun Violence In South Africa
South Africa has one of the world’s highest murder rates.
Gun Free South Africa, an NGO which works to reduce gun violence in the country, has estimated that 30 people are murdered in the country with guns daily.
South Africa last year saw a string of shootings that killed nearly two dozen people at separate bars in working-class suburbs in Johannesburg and in the eastern city of Pietermaritzburg.
Beauty Dlulane, who heads a parliamentary committee on Arts and Culture in South Africa, condemned the killing, describing it as a “hit”.
She called on authorities “to protect South Africans from this new scourge of what seems to be contract and revenge killings where performing artists and DJs seem to be targeted”.
In November 2022, a star of the house music sub-genre Amapiano, Oupa Sefoka – known as “DJ Sumbody” – was killed alongside his bodyguard in a drive-by shooting in Johannesburg.
Gun violence in South Africa previously killed of one of Africa’s most beloved international artists.
In 2007, reggae singer Lucky Dube was dropping off his teenage son at a relative’s home when gunmen shot him three times at close range during a botched hijacking.
AKA would unfortunately join the disheartening list of South African artistes who have been murdered by a drive-by shooting.
The Legacy Of AKA
Born January 1988 and raised in Cape Town, AKA gained recognition after releasing his single “Victory Lap” from his debut studio album, Altar Ego (2010).
Prior to attaining mainstream prominence, the rapper alongside two friends Vice Versa and Greyhound, formed a hip hop group called Entity in 2002.
The group received a nomination for a KORA Award in the Best African Hip Hop category. Entity disbanded in 2006, AKA went on to study sound engineering, and in the same year, he co-founded the production collective The I.V League alongside two other members.
In a career that has spanned over a decade, AKA delivered 6 albums in which he shared large portions of himself. And he was not done dazzling listeners with his music as he was set to release a new album titled ‘Mass Country’ in two weeks’ time.
