BET honours AKA with Global Visionary Award

The posthumous plaudits keep coming in for AKA. After bagging six nominations at the SAMA awards on Tuesday, international TV channel BET honoured the late rapper with the Global Visionary Award.

Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes was murdered earlier this year in Durban. The awards ceremony was pre-recorded last night in Atlanta Georgia, US and will be broadcast on 10 October.

“This is a bittersweet moment for us as a family. Kiernan lived for music and gave his all to creating a legacy that has outlived him,” said AKA’s parents, Lynn and Tony Forbes in accepting the award in a statement.

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“Thank you, BET for bestowing such a rightful honour to Kiernan. He would have accepted this award with pride. We are humbled to receive and acknowledge this honour on his behalf, especially for Kairo, who gets to witness her father’s legacy live on.”

AKA is not the first South African to receive the Global Vision Award. Riky Rick was honoured with the same award in 2022 after his untimely death.

ALSO READ: AKA leads the pack with 6 SAMA nominations

AKA celebrated

The awards are made more special by the fact that Hip Hop celebrates its 50^th anniversary this year and AKA will be honoured alongside other impactful contributors such as Swizz Beatz, Timberland and old school producer Marley Marl who will receive the Rock the Bells Award.

“Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes was not just a music icon, he was a visionary. BET is proud to celebrate his innovative spirit and unwavering dedication to his craft which left an indelible mark on the world,” BET’s Monde Twala said in a statement.

“We are honoured to recognise his extraordinary contributions with the Global Visionary Award at the  2023 ‘BET Hip Hop Awards’  AKA’s legacy will forever inspire future generations, reminding us that music transcends borders and has the power to unite us all.”

Together with fellow rapper K.O, AKA is also nominated in the Best International Flow category, which recognises the style in which one raps in.

This will be the 18th edition of the awards. The awards celebrate the past year in hip hop music across 17 categories, selected by a voting academy of music industry insiders.

AKA has been nominated in six SAMAs categories including the Male Artist of the Year.

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