Eight months have passed since the untimely death of rapper and urban cultural icon Riky Rick. As a tribute to the “Sidlukotini” hitmaker, he was recently posthumously awarded with the Global Visionary Award at the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards.
In a video posted on BET International’s YouTube page, several of his friends, family and collaborators shared their memories of him and spoke about the profound impact he had on the hip hop movement across the continent.
“Riky really, really made time for people,” his wife Bianca Naidoo shared, emphasising a sentiment which has been widely discussed since his death.
“Whether he knew you or whether he didn’t know you, he just was an incredible human being.”
She went on to share how his urban cultural festival Cotton Fest took a long time to put together before it launched in 2019. “Until we just said we’re doing it, and that’s how it happened. With no money, and whatever he made was just pumped into Cotton Fest.”
His mother, Louisa Zondo, added that her son had taught her many things. “The most relevant lesson is always leaving room in my heart for somebody else.” She added that he didn’t only walk the walk, but talked the talk too.
“That idea of his music, keep shining, was not a flippant rallying call. It was a call to speak to young people in particular to bring out the best of who they are and for them to be serious about nurturing those gifts.”
This tribute video was shared in the midst of October, which the government has declared as Mental Health Awareness Month. Prior to his death, Riky had shared in his music that he was battling with his mental health.
At the end of the video, the narrator speaks about the impact of his death in broadening this conversation. “Riky Rick’s death has opened a wider conversation around mental health, the fragility of masculinity, and how it’s manifesting itself in ever-increasing suicide rates in the country of South Africa. Even after his death, his legacy continues to push the culture forward.”