Tony Forbes, AKA’s father opened up about his grief following the unexpected death of his rapper son at the recent platinum plaque handover to the Forbes family and Vth Season by Sony Music Entertainment Africa after his album Mass Country scooped 35,404 units, equivalent to 40,972,588 streams.
Speaking to reporters, Tony Forbes said, “I feel emotional, proud and also grateful that we had him. Though he died at 35, when he left this life he had made a mark on the world.
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“It’s not about the volume of sales. For me it’s that people want to hear his music, to remember him and feel inspired by him.”
Recall that AKA was shot dead outside a restaurant in Durban on February 10 and with the police assuring repeatedly that the death is being investigated, Tony said he’s trying to be patient to ensure the process is thorough and justice is done.
“There are days where one hopes to hear the news that something happened. But we still want to give the process space. We are in touch with investigators and they keep us abreast, it does seem slow, but it’s only ** six months.”
While some people may have mixed thoughts about him coming to Soho Night Club, Drama Bar Lounge, or Coco, Mr. Forbes confesses that it is part of his grieving process, saying, “Through what I post on Instagram I hope to bring the good memories and tell the stories, that is the intentional side.
“The unintentional side is I struggle with the loss and I’m not the type of person who can sit at home and cry all day. I cry all day because I miss him so much, but then I go to where he used to work, [and] I feel closer to him. I’m not saying that is the right way for me to grieve and deal with the loss.”
Tony Forbes stated that his relationship with rapper Nadia Nakai would always be there as she’s part of the Forbes family whether or not she was married to his late son.
He said, “That is the person Kiernan was closest to outside his immediate family; for us Nadia is family, it’s not a question of whether they were married, for us she is part of the family and there’s no debate about that.”
Tony is on a quest to preserve AKA’s legacy for fans and family members alike, but especially for AKA’s daughter Kairo, whom AKA shared with DJ Zinhle.
Friends and artists close to AKA gathered in the week leading up to his funeral in Johannesburg’s Westpark Cemetery to talk about the journey they experienced with the Sponono hitmaker.
Mr. Forbes hopes to have some of his friends and fans write down some of his stories so he may make them into a book.
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“As much as we were sad at that point, just hearing those stories lifted us. It’s still difficult, but I thought, ‘what if we take those stories and capture them in a book?’, so that’s what I’m going to do.
“It’s a coffee-table book which will be like my Chicken Soup For the Soul, that when I’m down, I think about what they said and one day Kairo will read the book as well.”
