The Week In African Music: One Tragedy and A Global Celebration
In one of the most horrifying news this past week, South African rapper AKA was murdered in cold blood. The 35-year-old artiste (real name Kiernan Forbes) was shot at close range on February 10th alongside his friend and former manager Tebello Tibz Motsoane. Both of them were standing in front of a nightclub in Durban, and they died on the spot.
Every death is a tragedy. But the shock is magnified when it is untimely and through murder. Throughout music history, killings like those of American rappers 2pac and the NOTORIOUS BIG are remembered and mourned forever. For AKA and Tibz, the shock will also live on jarringly because the shooting was captured on video. It’s one of those things you seek out because you can’t believe the report, and once you do see it, it never leaves your mind.
AKA was an African great, a hip-hop giant before Burna Boy emerged and claimed that title (rightfully so). He was of the generation of universally acclaimed South African rappers, including the deceased HHP, Cassper Nyovest and of recent Nasty C. His music travelled farther than South Africa and made inroads up north in places like Nigeria. He would collaborate with Nigerian acts such as Ice Prince on N-Word Remix, Wizkid on the Emtee track Re-Up, Kiddominant on Fela In Versace, MI on On Code and Burna Boy for his own All Eyes On Me as well as some other four songs. Interestingly, his relationship with Burna Boy deteriorated significantly in recent years, stemming from tweets that saw him gripe about “South Africa losing to Nigeria in every way.” He did explain it as sibling rivalry afterwards, though.
AKA was also deeply troubled. In 2019, he revealed that he’d been diagnosed with clinical depression. His relationship with his late fiancee Neili Tembe was the stuff of horror movies, with AKA being accused of several incidents of domestic abuse, ultimately culminating in her death. Many people held him responsible for her death in 2021 when it was reported that she fell from the tenth floor of a hotel in Cape Town. Authorities never treated the death as anything more than an accident, and it’s been whispered that AKA’s murder may have been a retribution killing – especially as he was in her hometown Durban when it happened.
As far as the music goes, AKA’s legacy will continually be celebrated, and we hope that all the families involved in the tragedy find the strength to deal with the horrific loss. They remain in our thoughts and prayers.
We have said in this column that it’s an Afrobeats world, and we all live in it. Yet another testament to that fact: the National Basketball Association announced the trio of Nigerian stars, Grammy Award-winning act Burna Boy, Grammy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated singer Tems, and Billboard chart-topping artiste Rema will be performing at the NBA All-Star event this weekend. Not only would they perform, but the NBA has also declared that the halftime show will be “Afrobeats themed.” What a time to be alive!
As I said on Twitter when the announcement was made, basketball has constantly influenced Afrobeat music. To me, it’s not unconnected to the influence of hip-hop on the early practitioners of Nigerian urban pop music. Weird MC, who is an icon of the Nigerian music acne , was a basketball aficionado. So were Trybesmen, Def ‘o Clan, Plantashun Boiz and Sound Sultan. The late great Sound Sultan played professionally and was a part owner of a Lagos-based basketball franchise before his demise two years ago.
For many of us, America is still the global entertainment capital of the world, and it’s the next frontier that Afrobeats needs to capture. We’ve already made the United Kingdom our home, which is significant to the rise of Afrobeats in the diaspora. The US is next, and with significant stages like the NBA All-Star, the conquering of the American market may be happening earlier than we imagined. Burna is already well known, and Tems… well, one only has to see global stars like Busta Rhymes, Mary J. Blige, and DJ Khaled practically make a bee-line to shake hands with her at the recently held Grammys. Rema is not doing too shabby, either.
I would be watching the entire NBA All-Star weekend. We already know how great our music is. It’s time that the rest of the world acknowledged it too. Long may it continue!
Jide Taiwo is a writer and media executive. He’s based in Lagos, Nigeria and tweets via @thejidetaiwo.
Lastly, stay up to date with all you need to know about African music at S.O.A. right here.
The Week In African Music: One Tragedy and A Global Celebration
