Burna Boy took his feelings over the untimely death of his frenemy Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes to the studio and penned a sobering tribute in memory of his former collaborator.
Burna Boy posts tribute he wrote after learning of AKA death
The Nigerian superstar is one of the latest celebrities to release a public statement on the death of AKA, who was killed alongside his former manager and close friend Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane, outside a popular restaurant on Florida Road, Durban, on the evening of Friday, 10 February 2023.
Leaning on his artistic expression to convey his true emotions over the brutal murder of his former collaborator, Burna Boy shed his tears on wax and delivered a sobering tribute, where no attempts were made to dress up his fractured relationship with the fallen star.
In a snippet of the untitled song, which he posted on his Instagram Stories, the Grammy-nominated crooner revealed that finding out about AKA’s death via the leaked CCTV footage “took [him] out of a positive mood.”
WTF is all that about/ I just heard he died, seen that video at that restaurant/ Took me out of a positive mood/ Took me back to that day/ when you saw my [gun] and you said I was wild/ Then I told you you should have one too/ Cuz it weren't like n****s wasn't dying but I thought you knew/
Burna Boy admitted that while he never really took a liking to AKA, he “didn’t want [him] dead.”
Take a listen to the snippet that’s been doing the rounds on social media:
A brief history on Burna’s beef with AKA
The history of AKA’s public beef with Burna Boy can be traced back to a Twitter exchange about Bafana Bafana’s loss to Nigeria at the 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
What started out as innocent football banter quickly escalated into a war of words around the topic of xenophobia, at a time when South Africa had made global headlines for rising senseless attacks on foreign nationals.
The beef between AKA and Burna Boy got so intense, the Nigerian star’s appearance at a 2021 benefit concert organised by the South African government was boycotted by fans and local artists.
However, years later, South Africans put their differences aside and gave Burna Boy a warm embrace when he headlined the 2022 DStv Food Festival.
Since then, AKA and Burna Boy’s relationship had been on the mend. In a tweet that effectively put an end to all speculation about a rumoured bromance between the two former collaborators, AKA made it clear that their online kerfuffle was nothing personal.
“It was never about anything personal, I just don’t like people talking sh*t about my country. It’s that simple you know, people were talking about there is a genocide in South Africa, the likes of Tiwa Savage and people talking about, they’re killing our people, it was bullsh*t, it was a cap,” AKA wrote in a tweet.
AKA was one of the first South African artists to embrace Burna Boy during his breakout years in the early 2010s. The pair has collaborated on:
- All Eyes On Me (2014)
- Baddest (2015)
BEFORE YOU GO. CHECK OUT OUR REACTION TO AKA’S “PRADA” SINGLE AND SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST CHANNEL