When Riky Rick released the heartfelt and now harrowing single “Home” in 2020, he did so discreetly and without any promotion.
Instead, he announced that he was releasing “Ungazincishi” featuring Focalistic, a song he was teasing for a while.
He then quietly added Home as a snack of sorts to accompany “Ungazincishi”.
If you were a casual fan you’d probably only listen to “Ungazincishi”, which was an instant hit and dominated that summer.
But if, like me, you were a fan, “Home” was the immediate stand-out of the two songs.
On it, Riky poured his heart out about the struggles he was going through with his mental health, the heavy burden of fame that was weighing on his shoulders and the pressures of being a breadwinner.
“All this pressure gonna be the death of me,’ he rapped.
“Fake love killing my energy… pour some liquor for all my dead homies. RIP I’ll see you there homies.
“I pray I’ll meet you at the crossroads, sooner or later only God knows.”
Later in the song, he seemed to speak about his suicidal thoughts.
“Sometimes I feel like I wanna leave it, if I leave then who they gonna believe in?
“How they gonna receive it?”
In an era where a lot of rap music is taken as hyperbole, Riky’s words didn’t quite sink in.
They didn’t feel urgent.
EFF leader Julius Malema summed this up perfectly with a tweet in which he quoted part of these lyrics: “We love you my man; we did not listen to your loud whisper.
“We thought we still had time, and unfortunately, we are now too late to intervene 💔💔💔.”
Indeed we are too late, Riky is gone.
Riky Rick, real name Rikhado Muziwendlovu Makhado, died on Wednesday, aged 34.
His passing sent shock waves through South Africa, and the outpouring of grief has shown just how much an impact he had in South African culture.
But it also brought to the fore the scourge of depression in our community.
Riky Rick was a pioneer and icon by any measure.
His 2014 break-out single “Nafukwa” came in the midst of local hip hop’s rapid boom onto the mainstream.
He followed that up with his critically acclaimed, platinum-selling debut album “Family Values” a year later, before releasing one of the top collaborative singles of that summer “Fuseg” featuring Cassper Nyovest and Anatii.
“Family Values” was the dominant album of 2015 off the back of the success of stand-out album cuts “Amantombazane” featuring Okmalumkoolkat and “Boss Zonke”.
Its success saw him nominated for eight South African Hip-Hop Awards (SAHHAs) that year, more than any other artist.
He carried this momentum into 2016 by partnering up with independent record label Mabala Noise in a deal reported to have been worth several million rands and releasing “Sidlukotini”, a hit single which carried him through that entire year.
Despite an acrimonious split from Mabala a short while later, Riky closed the year off strongly with a brilliant guest verse on newcomer Frank Casino’s remix for his break-out single, “Whole Thing”, which went on to win best remix at the SAHHAs off the strength of Riky’s co-sign.
His verse on there was arguably one of the most potent local rap verses ever.
And so began a trend that saw Riky consistently collaborate with young, up-and-coming artists.
He would maintain this reputation throughout his career.
Newcomers such as Kly, J Molley, Costa Titch, The Big Hash, Phantom Steeze and Profound have benefited from his willingness to collaborate with and push their music while they were still finding their feet.
He inspired tons more through his fashion, his infectious energy, and his willingness to lend a hand whenever he could.
He was widely revered by his peers for how he always lifted them up when they were down.
Some of the messages and tributes that have been pouring in from them echo this.
In an emotional Instagram Live on Wednesday, a teary eyed Big Zulu, with whom Riky Rick collaborated on the viral, award-winning single “Mali Eningi”, expressed his disbelief at Riky’s passing and shared how he was always the voice of reason when he was going through a rough patch.
Amapiano newcomer Young Stunna, who’s been the hottest new act of the past year, echoed the same sentiment in an Instagram post shortly after news broke of Riky’s passing: “’Malume’, first time we met, you called me superstar," he wrote.
"You got me my first pair of expensive shoes, closed the whole Puma store and you bought it out for me.
“Nkululeko Nkulee and Nelson Skroef couldn’t believe the love.
“You told us to keep going, have faith and take care of each other.
“You gave us life lessons every time we met, you always had knowledge and wisdom, you took care of the whole game, you took care of the kids and listened carefully to them even though you were a busy man.
“Hearing that you left us, broke many of us apart, knowing how happy we were when you were present.
“We pray that your spirit stays with us forever and the heavens accept you with open arms.”
It's a deeply profound message that sums it all up perfectly.
Riky was just different. The outpouring of grief has been overwhelming and far reaching and consistently positive.
Everyone felt his embrace, whether from up close or afar.
In my few interactions with him he always made an effort to make me feel important.
Shingy Wingy, he called me.
There are many more stories to tell of his kindness, but for now we just try to remember him for his singular legacy.
Cotton Fest is scheduled in just a few weeks.
In my interview with him in 2019, Riky described the festival as being “for us, by us, for the people, for everybody. It’s not about me”. he said.
“It’s not a one-man show.
“I wanna show them that everybody can get the kids lit, and I wanna show the kids that they can get lit for anybody.”
Whether the festival will go on remains to be seen.
I hope it does. Because after all, the festival’s slogan is “We never die, we multiply”.
Through his constant mentorship and guidance in ushering in the new generation, his spirit and energy will live on.