Johannesburg - Global streaming platform Spotify has described the new AKA album, Mass Country, as both a parting gift to his fans and a love letter to South Africa.
Spotify says that Mass Country was produced and completed before South African rapper Kiernan Forbes’ untimely death.
"With a mix of local sounds and features from a host of South Africa’s hottest hip hop talent, including Khuli Chana, Blxckie, Nadia Nakai, Emtee, Yanga Chief, Sjava, and more, there is no mistaking that this one was for his South African fans. In a video taken while he was in the studio, AKA is heard saying, 'there is only one audience I am pandering to'," said the streaming platform.
Spotify highlighted the words of AKA’s mother, Lynn Forbes, who said that Kiernan was so proud of Mass Country.
"As a family, it was a pleasure to see his music's evolution over the years. He played us this album over and over again. We’re happy the world finally gets to hear it," said Forbes.
Lead Music Strategy and Operations for Spotify Sub-Saharan Africa, Warren Bokwe, said that AKA was one of the few people who could be classified as a South African hip hop mega star, and they were honoured to be able to continue to share his music with his fans, both in South Africa and all over the world.
"One of the ways that Spotify will do this is by featuring Mass Country on a billboard in New York’s Times Square. This billboard has also previously showcased other South African artists like Kabza de Small and Sha Sha, providing a platform to share home-grown talent with international audiences," added the platform.
According to Spotify data, while South Africa makes up the largest single market for AKA’s music at 38%, the vast majority of listeners (62%) are streaming from elsewhere in the world, including the UK, US, Sweden and Germany, rounding out the top five markets for his music.
"Spotify is a platform dedicated to supporting African artists and providing them with a place to grow their global fan bases, so this kind of data is a testament to AKA’s talent and the power of streaming," said Bokwe.
Streams of AKA's music have increased by 743% since his death earlier this month, according to Spotify.
Some AKA by Spotify statistics:
AKA began his music career in high school with the rap trio Entity, alongside Vice Versa and Greyhound.
In 2011, AKA broke onto the music scene as a solo act with his debut album, Altar Ego. Spotify data tracks his meteoric rise and growing popularity with each new album.
Levels, his second album, surpassed one million Spotify streams in 19 months. His third studio album, Touch My Blood, released in 2018, raced to a million streams in just 11 months.
AKA's songs can be found on over 630 000 Spotify user-generated playlists.
“All Eyes on Me” is AKA’s most popular song to be playlisted and his first song to hit one million streams on Spotify.
The song features Nigerian artist Burna Boy and long-time collaborators Da L.E.S. and JR. “Fela in Versace”, from Touch My Blood, features on over 128 000 playlists.
“Lemons (Lemonade)” featuring Nasty C, the first single from the upcoming Mass Country, is already AKA’s third most playlisted song, despite having only been released in September last year.
The Star