AKA (rapper)

AKA
Birth name Kiernan Jarryd Forbes
Also known as
  • The Supa Mega
  • 3rdWorldBoss
Born (1988-01-28) 28 January 1988
Cape Town, South Africa
Origin Johannesburg, South Africa
Genres Hip hop
Occupation(s)
Instruments Vocals
Years active 2002–present
Labels
  • Vth Season
  • Sony Music Entertainment Africa
Associated acts

Kiernan Jarryd Forbes (born 28 January 1988), better known by his stage name AKA, is a South African hip hop recording artist originally from Cape Town.

Early career

In 2002, he was part of the rap group Entity that had a hit with "Touch N Go".[1] Entity were nominated in 2005 for "Best African Hip Hop" in the KORA Awards[2] and performed during the event. He went on to study sound engineering before choosing to perform. "I decided that’s what I needed to do," says the man dubbed the Prince of South African Rap.

[3] As Entity disbanded in 2006, AKA went on to study sound engineering and later joined Buks and Kamza to form the production collective known as The I.V. League in 2007. His production credits include tracks by PRO, Tuks Senganga, Andile, Shugasmakx, Khuli Chana, Teargas, Psyfo, Jub Jub, Loyiso Bala, Bala Brothers, Jae, JR and Proverb.[2][4]

Music career

In 2009 AKA ventured for a solo career with hits like "Mistakes", "In My Walk" and "Do It" with the latter making it to number 1 on the South African 5FM Top 40.[2] He won Metro FM Music Awards for "Best Newcomer", "Best Hip Hop" as a solo act and "Best Produced Album" for his debut Altar Ego.[5] It is then that he was dubbed "Prince of South African Rap" by one of the national newspapers.[6] He also won "Best Dressed man" during the GQ Awards in South Africa alongside Oscar Pistorius.[4]

In 2011 AKA's song "Victory Lap" won Channel O's Most Gifted Hip-Hop Video at the 7th annual Channel O Music Video Awards and at the 18th South African Music Awards AKA was awarded Male Artist of the Year and Best Street Urban Music Album.[7] The rapper went on to say "Winning the awards has been a big honour and it is very humbling. The Male Artist of the Year award has made me see myself as a musician across all genres and not just a hip-hop artist,".

AKA has opened for Kanye West, Snoop dogg, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Big Sean and Kendrick Lamar in their South African tours.[8] He has won many awards including "Best Street Urban Music Album" and "Male Artist of the Year" at the 18th South African Music Awards (SAMA) South African equivalent to the Grammys.[5]

In late 2014 rapper AKA signed a multi-album deal with Sony Music through its new local urban label Sound African recordings. Executive head of A&R for Sony, Zakes Bantwini made the announcement through their platform. ‘We’re excited to add AKA’s illustrious career to our stable. We are excited about AKA’s growth prospects in Africa and beyond.’ The Sony Music/AKA partnership is the key catalyst to change the business and face of Music across Africa, especially in the key areas of quality, distribution and content management’.[9] In June 2015, AKA's sophomore album Levels was certified Gold, by the Recording Industry of South Africa, for shipments of over 20,000 copies domestically.[10]

The rapper AKA is generally considered by fans as one of the talented and influential rappers in South Africa and the African continent, praised by fans for evolving Hip-Hop in Africa.

In 2015, aka's sophomore album Levels is available on a vinyl known as a gramophone record.

In The year 2016, AKA created a great ground for himself in the East African market after collaborating with the East African pop King Diamond Platnumz on a joint known as Make Me Sing, making a South African record of hitting 1 Million YouTube views in just 10 days after being uploaded, a record that was never made by any South African artist.

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected information
Title Album details Certification
Altar Ego[11]
Levels[12] RISA: Platinum [14]

Extended plays

List of extended plays, with selected information
Title EP details
24/7/366

Singles

Title Year Album Certification
"I Want It All"
(featuring Pro Kid & Khuli Chana)		 2009 Altar Ego
"Victory Lap" 2010
"All I Know" 2011
"Bang"
(featuring Khuli Chana)
"Jealousy" 2012 Levels
"Kontrol"
(featuring Da L.E.S)		 2013
"Congratulate" 2014 RISA: Gold[15]
"Run Jozi (Godly)"
(featuring K.O)		 RISA: Gold[16]
"All Eyes On Me"
(featuring Burna Boy, JR and Da L.E.S)		 2014 RISA: Gold[15]
"Sim Dope" 2015
"Baddest"
(featuring Burna Boy, Khuli Chana and Yanga)
"Composure"

Music videos

List of music videos & showing year released
Title Year
"I Want It All"
(featuring Pro Kid & Khuli Chana)		 2009
"Victory Lap" 2010
"All I Know" 2011
"Bang"
(featuring Khuli Chana)
"Jealousy" 2012
"Kontrol"
(featuring Da L.E.S)		 2013
"Congratulate" 2014
"Run Jozi (Godly)"
(featuring K.O)
"All Eyes On Me"

(featuring Burna Boy, JR and Da L.E.S)

 2014
"Sim Dope" 2015
"Composure"
"Baddest"
(featuring Burna Boy, Khuli Chana and Yanga)
"Make Me Sing"
(featuring Diamond Platnumz)		2016

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ↑ http://www.hypemagazine.co.za/2015/02/throwbackthursday-entity-touch-go/
  2. 1 2 3 "MTVbase: AKA biography". MTV Base. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  3. ↑ http://www.the-net-worth.com/2015/07/aka/
  4. 1 2 "SundayWorld: AKA: A masterminded triumph". Sundayworld.co.za. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  5. 1 2 "IOL.co.za: Getting to know AKA". Iol.co.za. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "XXL Mag: Down South: The 10 Hottest Rappers in South Africa". Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  7. ↑ "Aka". Trace. Archived from the original on May 17, 2013. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Mail & Guardian: AKA done with opening shows for international artists". The M&G Online. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  9. ↑ Akan, Joey. "SA Rapper AKA Signs Deal With Sony Music Africa". Retrieved 2015-09-12.
  10. ↑ "AKA goes gold at long-last - SundayWorld". www.sundayworld.co.za. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  11. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Altar Ego by AKA". iTunes. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  12. ↑ IDM Reports. "Metro FM to debut ‘Congratulate’ single off AKA Levels album". IDM Mag. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  13. ↑ "Online Youth Magazine | Zkhiphani.com – AKA drops ‘Levels" on vinyl". www.zkhiphani.co.za. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  14. ↑ "News : Levels has gone Gold!". MTV South Africa. 2015-06-18. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  15. 1 2 "AKA's #LEVELS album reaches gold | YoMzansi™ BLOG |". YoMzansi™ BLOG | HIGHEST GRADE SOURCE of SA Entertainment News. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  16. ↑ "AKA's 'Run Jozi' gets Gold certified | YoMzansi™ BLOG |". YoMzansi™ BLOG | HIGHEST GRADE SOURCE of SA Entertainment News. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  17. 1 2 "See Nominees for the African Muzik Magazine Awards (AFRIMMA) 2014". Bellanaija. 9 June 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  18. ↑ "Home - Samasama". Samusicawards.co.za. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, May 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.