AKA is a South African rapper and multiple award-winning talent who was born Kiernan Jarryd Forbes on January 28, 1988, in Cape Town, Western Cape. AKA rose to prominence after the release of his debut album, Alter Ego, and the hit “Victory Lap” (2011).
Awards
South African Music Awards
- Best Male Artist in 2012 and 2015
- Street Urban Music for Alter Ego
South African Hip Hop Awards
- Most Valuable Artist
- Most Digital Sales
- Video Of The Year For his feature on The Saga
- Best Collaboration The Saga
- Best Male Artist in 2012
- Best Male Artist in 2015
Metro FM Awards
- Best Collaboration For Baddest
- Best Hit Single For Baddest
AKA Career
He was a member of the rap group Entity, which released the single “Touch N Go” in 2002. Entity gave a performance at the 2005 KORA Awards, where they were nominated for “Best African Hip Hop.” After that, he pursued sound engineering studies before deciding to perform. The person called the Prince of South African Rap says, “I decided that’s what I needed to accomplish.
AKA studied sound engineering after Entity split up in 2006, and in 2007 he joined Buks and Kamza to establish The I.V. League, a production group. PRO, Tuks Senganga, Andile, Shugasmakx, Khuli Chana, Teargas, Psyfo, Jub Jub, Loyiso Bala, Bala Brothers, Jae, JR, and Proverb are among the artists whose music he has produced.
AKA started a solo career in 2009 and had hits with “Mistakes,” “In My Walk,” and “Do It,” the latter of which peaked at number one on the South African 5FM Top 40. For his debut album, Altar Ego, he received Metro FM Music Awards for “Best Newcomer,” “Best Hip Hop” as a solo act, and “Best Produced Album.” He was given the moniker “Prince of South African Rap” by one of the major newspapers at the time. Alongside Oscar Pistorius, he was named “Best Dressed Man” at the GQ Awards in South Africa.
Rapper AKA inked a multi-album deal with Sony Music in the latter part of 2014 through the company’s brand-new local urban label Sound African records. Zakes Bantwini, executive head of A&R at Sony, made the announcement on their website. We’re thrilled to include AKA’s accomplished career in our stable. AKA’s development prospects in Africa and beyond excite us. The relationship between Sony Music and AKA, particularly in the crucial areas of quality, distribution, and content management, is the primary catalyst for changing the business and face of music in Africa. The Recording Industry of South Africa awarded Levels, the sophomore album by AKA, a Gold certification in June 2015 for domestic sales of over 20,000 copies.
AKA sharing stage with world stars
AKA has served as the opening act for South African tours by Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Big Sean, and Kendrick Lamar. The 18th South African Music Honors (SAMA), which are the country’s version of the Grammys, presented him with awards for “Best Street Urban Music Album” and “Male Artist of the Year.”
AKA’s daughter
Kairo Owethu Forbes, AKA’s daughter, was born in July 2015. Although Kairo shares a home with her mother, DJ Zinhle, they are close. She shares parenting responsibilities with both of her parents. Both parents planned and organized a birthday celebration for Kairo for her third birthday. AKA and DJ Zinhle were seen together in the same space for the first time in a while, and they were both beaming after a two-year period of difficult co-parenting.
The young princess’ birthday was celebrated in grand style with the introduction of her own line of jewelry for young women. On social media, DJ Zinhle, her mother, stated how emotional she always becomes on Kairo’s birthday.
“Happy 7th Birthday to my sweet baby @kairo.forbes..Today is gonna be such an emotional day, I am always a mess on Kairo’s birthday.. it’s tears of joy,” she wrote.
Kairo Forbes launches jewellery range with DJ Zinhle – https://t.co/kejtANinlA
— Sunday World (@SundayWorldZA) July 8, 2022
She further spoke about how proud she is of her daughter. “God has blessed us so much. Kairo is a kind, thoughtful & loving girl. I am proud to be her mommy. I am so GRATEFUL!” she wrote.The joyful information that Kairo is starting a new company was also announced by the pleased mother. She is imitating her mother’s behavior.
“Kairo launches her jewellery range today with @erabydjzinhle, I am so proud of the work that Kairo and @moozlie did on this project, well done! Little girls are gonna love this!” she wrote.
An additional image from Kairo’s LA photoshoot, which displays more of the jewelry pieces that will be offered for sale from her new collection, was uploaded to the Era By Dj Zinhle Instagram page. The images depict the six-year-old wearing a gold chain necklace with a few brightly colored cloud and star pendants, a matching gold cloud nail bracelet, and cloud earrings to complete the matching outfit.Era’s cooperation with Kairo She has already worked with her mother’s brand to develop children’s watches, eyeglasses, and sunglasses under her own name, so By DJ Zinhle would not be her first.
Kiernan’s list of girlfriends
Dj Zinhle
2012 saw the commencement of DJ Zinhle and AKA’s romance, however, they kept their relationship under wraps at first. The couple announced their first pregnancy in 2014, expressing they were thrilled to grow their family. This was just temporary, as they jointly announced their breakup in an August 2015 statement.AKA and DJ Zinhle both insisted that the split was amicable and chose not to address it further.
That is until DJ Zinhle confessed that AKA had cheated on her with Bonang Matheba when she was carrying their daughter, Kairo Forbes and that this was the reason for their breakup. AKA and Bonang first vehemently rejected the rumors, but in 2018 he apologized for mistreating the expectant mother of his child.
After around three years of being apart, DJ Zinhle and AKA rekindled their romance in 2019 with the intention of starting again as a family. They were together for less than a year before they both declared they had broken up in the early months of 2020, adding that they were devoted to co-parenting successfully.
Bonang
After AKA, actual name Kiernan Jarryd Forbes, acknowledged they began dating while DJ Zinhle was expecting their daughter, the couple dated from 2015 to 2017. They had a rough breakup, and it seems that tweeps never forget. After the new pair made their relationship official, curious Instagram users discovered that Bonang had unfollowed her ex-friend Nakai. This sparked a discussion on Twitter.
The relationship between AKA and Bonang has been marred by scandal, but the two appeared to brush it off with heartfelt posts and admiration for one another. No one anticipated the breakup when Bonang made an appearance in his music video again For World is Yours.
Anele Tembe
In January 2020, a video of AKA and Tembe appeared on Twitter, leading many to believe that he was still seeing DJ Zinhle, the mother of his child. AKA, who was subsequently revealed to be Nellie Tembe, stepped in to settle the matter and declared his love for the new, young beauty. The first image of Tembe that AKA shared on his Instagram account at the end of January left followers in suspense.
AKA thanked the person who published the video of him and Tembe on Twitter in February 2020, calling it one of the “greatest favors someone ever did” for him.AKA shared one of the earliest images of him and Tembe looking into each other’s eyes in May 2020. Cross my heart was the caption on the photo.AKA disclosed that he had COVID-19 in July 2020 and that Tembe was caring for him as he recovered. To many people’s astonishment, AKA proposed to Tembe in February 2021, demonstrating to the public how seriously he takes their relationship. On his Instagram, he shared a photo of the brilliant diamond ring.
On April 11, Tembe reportedly died after falling from the 10th storey of the Pepperclub Hotel in Cape Town. AKA paid tribute to Anele “Nellie” Tembe on Instagram alongside a picture of his deceased fiancée on the first anniversary of her passing.
Nadia Nakai
Rappers Naida Nakai and Kiernan “AKA” Forbes confirmed early this year’s relationship rumors. The two celebrities posted a gif video of their kissing on Instagram during a Thursday night out in Johannesburg’s Orthodox VIP Lounge. They each titled the picture “Mega 2 Mega.”
Since the two rappers were frequently photographed together, fans had been speculating for months that they were dating. she was ranging from a safari vacation to clubbing. Nadia earlier admitted her romance with American rapper Vic Mensa had ended in an interview with Lasizwe Dambuza for his YouTube program, Truth or Drink.
How much is AKA worth?
AKA’s net worth as of 2022, according to Forbes, is about $12 million, or R175 million. AKA has worked extremely hard to amass his enormous income through his profession as a producer, businessman, and singer, as well as through his sponsorship deals.
AKA’s Businesses
He is not only a well-known, award-winning artist but also a successful businessman. He started the Beam Group in 2017. The organization focused mainly on brand promotion, media coverage, and music production. However, the business shut down in 2018.
He can do anything and be an expert at it. The vivacious musician is also the proprietor of Cuba Lounge BLK, a popular club. In addition, he has a clothing line called Bhovamania, inspired by his 2021 EP of the same name. AKA has a number of sponsorship agreements with well-known companies like Reebok and Vodka Cruz.
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