Meet Kiernan Jarryd Forbes AKA (MIPAD) Honoree

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They say music is a universal language, Well we couldn’t agree more because this is so true. This means that you don’t have to understand what is being said to dance to the music or rhythm. Once you can connect to the beats of the music and you are good to go. There are so many talented artistes all over the world and even Africa, but our focus today is on South African artiste who has made a good name for himself and has caught our eyes as a civil society. We can’t but any proud of all his achievement in the music industry which he shares with various talents like Sarkodie (Ghana) Wizkid (Nigeria) so much more talented Africans shaking the world with their music.

Meet Kiernan Jarryd Forbes South African-born rapper called AKA.In 2009 AKA began his 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.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.Due to his exploit in the music industry, he was dubbed “Prince of South African Rap” by one of the national newspapers. He also won “Best Dressed man” during the GQ Awards in South Africa alongside Oscar Pistorius.

AKA has worked closely with Kanye West, Snoop dogg, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Big Sean and Kendrick Lamar on their South African tours. 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) In late 2014 rapper AKA signed a multi-album deal with Sony Music through its new local urban label Sound African recordings.

The 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’.

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, as of May 2016 the album was certified platinum by RiSA.

We at MIPAD are proud of his achievement in the music industry. We love his passion for his music and how he has brought and showcased the beats of AFRICA and Africans to the world. Congratulations on the recognition Mr. Forbes as one of the Most influential People of African Class of 2017. Don’t stop making us proud and great. See you in New York in September.

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