On Saturday 10 February 2023, rapper Kiernan 'AKA' Forbes' life was cut short following a shooting in Durban, Florida road with his friends Tebello 'Tibz' Motsoane. The 35-year-old was one of South Africa's best rappers, songwriters, and outstanding entrepreneurs. Although he lived a life full of controversy and no matter how many times, he went down for something he always found his way back up.?

WHO WAS AKA

Born Kiernan Jarryd Forbes on 28 January 1988, AKA was raised in both Cape Town and Johannesburg. He spent his childhood with his grandmother in Mitchell's Plain where he attended Holy Cross Convent school in Cape Town. He then moved to Johannesburg in 1995 to stay with his parents Tony and Lynn Forbes. While in Johannesburg, he went to Greenside Primary school and later St John's College. ?

?FOR THE LOVE OF HIP HOP?

In 2002, AKA alongside his two friends Vice Versa and Greyhound formed a hip-hop group called Entity. The group received a nomination at the KORA Awards for the Best African Hip Hop category. Entity disbanded in 2006, leading Forbes to go study sound engineering. In the same year, he co-founded The I.V League with two other people. The I.V League signed up artists like ProKid, Khuli Chana, and JR. In 2009, he released his three songs, In My Walk, I Do, and Mistakes, while still under the I.V. label. His first hit single was Victory Lap in 2010.

?AN AWARD WINNER 

AKA won a Metro FM Award for Best Hip Hop Album in 2011 and a South African Music Award for Best Male Artist of the Year in 2012 for his album Altar Ego. He has been listed in several music award nominations and is a collector of many more. In 2014 African Muzik Magazine Awards named him the Best Male Southern Africa and Best Collaboration, he also won the MTV Africa Music Awards for Best Collaboration, Best Male Artist 2015 at the 21st South African Music Awards. Other awards include the South African Hip Hop Awards for Best Collaboration, Most Valuable Artist, Most Digital Sales, Song of the Year. He also walked away with the 15th Metro FM Music Awards for Best Collaboration and Best Hit Single 2019 and the 2019 Kids' Choice Awards for Favourite South African Star. In 2019, he was named Pan African Artist of the Year at the Namibia Annual Music Awards. In 2020 he took away the South African Music Awards for Music Video of the Year. ?

?A LOVER?

AKA's relationship with DJ Zinhe (Ntombezinhle Jiyane) drew the spotlight on his love life when he allegedly cheated on her with media personality Bonang Matheba. DJ Zinhle and AKA met in 2012 in Botswana. They broke up in 2015 over the cheating allegations after their daughter Kairo's birth. AKA went on to publicly date Matheba broke up with her when she cheated on him. AKA and ZInhle rekindled their love and went back together in 2018. But their relationship was short-lived, and they broke up again in 2019.

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?FIANCE'S DEATH

After DJ Zinhle, AKA dated an aspiring chef Anele Tembe, to whom he was engaged for two months before she died. The 22-year-old fell to her death on the 10th floor of the Pepperclub Hotel in Loop Street in Cape Town. In a letter read out at Anele's funeral service, her father Moses Tembe said: "I cannot let an unfortunate narrative go unchallenged. "...that Anele, my daughter was a chronically suicidal person or had suicidal tendencies. All I can say is that until she turned 21, Anele wouldn't consider taking her own life as a solution. Not a single member of my family, Anele's family, would have ever associated Anele with suicide," her father said. "Anele loved herself so much. She wanted to live more rather than less. As Anele's father, I hereby state categorically, Anele was neither suicidal nor did she commit suicide,". Tembe was responding to rumours that Nellie died by suicide. 

Before his death, AKA was in a relationship with fellow rapper Nadia Nakai whom he seemed happily in love.

AKA is survived by his parents, Tony and Lynn Forbes, his daughter Kairo Owethu Forbes and his brother Steffan Forbes.