Shot in front of restaurant: South African rapper AKA is dead

The successful South African rapper AKA is dead. The musician, whose real name was Kiermann Jarryd Frobes, was shot dead on the night of February 10th.

The incident is said to have taken place in front of a restaurant in the port city of Durban on South Africa’s east coast. Two men reportedly specifically attacked the rapper and a companion, chef Tebello Motsoane, as they were leaving the bar. Forbes is said to have died on the spot. Just a few weeks ago, on January 28, he turned 35. A performance in a club was planned for the later evening of February 10th.

The scene loses one of its biggest, not uncontroversial stars

Forbes was one of the dominant figures in South African rap. With his debut album ALTAR EGO, released in 2011, he won the award “Best Male Artist” at the “South African Music Awards” in 2012. His following albums LEVELS (2014), BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR (2017), together with ANTII, and TOUCH MY BLOOD (2018) were extremely successful commercially – TOUCH MY BLOOD was certified “Double Platinum” – and garnered further awards . In 2020 he was nominated for the Artist of the Decade award at the South African Hip Hop Awards.

In the best US rap manner, his career path was accompanied by disputes with rival artists. This and the leak of video material from a surveillance camera at the scene of the crime have now fueled speculation about the background to the attack. The murder of one of his biggest stars marked at least one assessmenta new dimension in the essence of South African hip-hop.

The star’s final years were plagued by personal problems. In 2021, his partner at the time, Anele Tembe, died shortly after they both announced their engagement, in an accident that various reports say is considered a suicide. After that, AKA briefly paused his career. In 2022 he returned to the public and released a series of singles. A song has already been released in 2023, which was apparently intended to prepare for the release of his fourth major solo project MASS COUNTRY in the course of February.

The family of the deceased confirmed the news via his Instagram account. Forbes is survived by a daughter from a previous relationship with DJ Zinhle.

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