When Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes unashamedly pronounces himself the Mufasa of South African (SA) Hip-Hop, it must be stated that the man really believes this.
While it certainly would be hard to make comparisons between the fictitious character of Simba’s righteous father and the self-admitted arrogant Bhova, the rapper sure does make a point about his leadership in the genre.
Breaking down BHOVAMANIA: Tracklist and features
On Friday, the Megacy finally got to hear the 32-year-old’s much-anticipated fourth studio album BHOVAMANIA, after months of being bombarded with snippets, three singles and murmurs of this being the best project to drop in South Africa this year.
The 13-track album saw AKA collaborate with the usual suspects from his clique. Yanga Chief made two appearances, on Monuments and Mr Perfect.
Moozlie and Don Design also lent a hand on Python. Perhaps, the surprising feature that has created all the buzz on social media is K.O, who totally obliterated the instrumental on Heavy Drank.
Flvme, Sho Madjozi, Gemini Major and L-Tido also appear on different songs on the album.
An honest opinion about AKA
Two things were unusual about the release of BHOVAMANIA. First, this is the first time in his 10-year commercial music career that AKA has released a new solo album in a span of two years.
Often, Supamega takes his time compiling his body of work. It took three years to make his magnum opus Levels after his debut album Alter Ego dropped in 2011.
Similarly, Touch My Blood followed four years later, in 2018. Thus, for a musician who has built his discography on craftsmanship, the short period between his last studio album and BHOVAMANIA does leave one wondering what the motivation behind this change of habit was.
Second, this is the first time AKA dropped a body of work in November. His first two albums came out in June and Touch My Blood was an August release.
Often in the music business, winter is the period record labels zone in on for new releases. It allows greater opportunity for commercial success when the afterlife of an album rests in the spring and summer seasons.
In everything unsettling about the way in which BHOVAMANIA was packaged and released, there is one truth that stands out: AKA is jaded.
This album is heavily sampled and while some of the production leaves much to be desired, it’s not the problem.
At 32 years old with all the success he one can ask for and a daughter whose future is sealed in celebriton, AKA has seen and done it all.
Yet in 13 songs, we were left with nothing but flatulent similies and details we didn’t ask for on his relationship with his 21-year-old girlfriend.
By virtue of his presence in the music industry, AKA is not misguided in coining himself the Mufasa of SA Hip-Hop, albeit his arch nemesis Cassper Nyovest was the first to use the term.
Perhaps, the less said about his songwriting, the better.
BHOVAMANIA is out on all digital streaming platforms. If you have an Apple Music subscription, you can listen to the entire album below: