THESE mums' sons were some of the biggest rappers that had influence in Mzansi.
Their deaths shattered many, from their families, friends, and colleagues to their fans.
Riky Rick, real name Rikhado Makhado, and AKA real name Kiernan Forbes, mums sat down to talk about the lives, deaths and grieving for their sons.
That’s what Louisa Zondo and Lynn Forbes were talking about on episode 3 of The Better Health Podcast on YouTube hosted by Dis-Chem.
Riky Rick succumbed to suicide in February 2022, and AKA was tragically murdered in February 2023.
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Lynn said people tend to have expectations of how rappers should look, forgetting that they are also human beings.
“People on social media are feeding a narrative of Kiernan’s narrative; you are feeding information, but you don’t know the truth of what is happening. Every comment adds to the person’s life and their family,” she said.
She said AKA was disconnected from everything.
“I would go to his house and sit in another room. He didn’t want to have conversations, and he couldn’t deal with what people were accusing him of. That was probably the most difficult thing, and he was not willing to tell another narrative because that wasn’t the person he was, he was not going to speak badly about someone he loved,” she said.
Lynn said social media users destroy people’s emotions.
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“I wish we could find a way for people to understand how every single time they pick up their phone and type something affects their lives and mental health,” he said.
She said when Riky died, AKA suffered from depression.
“It was really hard for him, and I think at the time Ricky died, he had the same thoughts in his heart,” she said.
Riky Rick’s mum, Louisa, said he would always call on them to be loving and caring.
“When that strange thing happened after all care was taken to manage the note that Rikhado had left, we don’t have suspicions it’s clear when the leaks happened because the police had this information,” she said.
She said the media unethically published material obtained in unethical ways.
“That's hurtful. Social media, uncaring industries, these things devastate our mental health, they devastate our wellbeing, and these are things that we must change,” she said.
Both mothers said they were hurt when negative things were distributed on social media, the video of AKA getting murdered, as well as the suicide note.
