One of South Africa’s most famous rappers, Riky Rick, has left his legion of fans grieving after he took his own life at the age of 34. His death has highlighted the mental health challenges facing men in a society scarred by its racist and violent past.
Riky Rick, whose real name was Rikhado Makhado, grew up in KwaMashu – a township created for black people in the coastal city of Durban by the white-minority regime that ruled until Nelson Mandela’s ascent to power in 1994.
He seemed to have it all in post-apartheid South Africa – a lovely family (he leaves behind a wife and two children) and a successful music career, which also saw him mentoring up and coming artists.
I first met Riky Rick in 2018 at a highbrow fashion event in Cape Town that was attended by the likes of supermodel Naomi Campbell, Gucci boss Marco Bizzarri, and the first black editor of British Vogue, Edward Enninful.
He seamlessly mingled with them, dripping with style, flashing a bright photogenic smile while waving at the cameras.
It was clear that Riky Rick possessed an uncanny ability to navigate glamorous spaces while still maintaining an edginess that endeared him to his fans.
Few knew then that he had been struggling for years with depression.
In a 2020 episode of the Lab Live podcast which he hosted, he said: “There’s two sides of Riky, one side that’s a family man… and I’ve also got this other side, that is a boisterous Liberace mixed with Slick Rick type character.
“It’s been a hard, hard road for me in these past couple of years trying to decide, when I present something to the world, which side am I presenting,” he said.
Ricky Rik rose to mainstream fame in 2014 with the hit single Nafukwa
BY KISS 100
