“She is part of the family”: AKA’s father Tony Forbes speaks on Nadia Nakai

Tony Forbes, the father of slain South African rapper AKA, has said that Nadia Nakai is regarded as part of the family despite the fact that she was never formally married to the musician.

Nakai, who is also a rapper, was intimately involved with AKA during the months leading to his death and has forged seemingly close ties with the Forbes family, including the late rapper’s daughter Kairo, even after his death.

AKA was shot outside a Durban restaurant on February 10.

The rapper’s father opened about the family’s relationship with Nakai at the recent platinum plaque handover to the Forbes family and Vth Season by Sony Music Entertainment Africa after his album Mass Country raked in 35,404 units, equivalent to 40,972,588 streams.

“That is the person Kiernan was closest to outside his immediate family; for us Nadia is family, it’s not a question of whether they were married, for us she is part of the family and there’s no debate about that,” he said.

Forbes also expressed his feelings about what at times seemed like the slow pace of investigations into the murder of the Sponono hitmaker.

“There are days where one hopes to hear the news that something happened. But we still want to give the process space. We are in touch with investigators and they keep us abreast, it does seem slow, but it’s only [been] six months,” he said.

Tony, who has been spotted at night spots such as Soho Night Club, Drama Bar Lounge or Coco, said such outings were all a part of his grieving process.

“Through what I post on Instagram I hope to bring the good memories and tell the stories, that is the intentional side. The unintentional side is I struggle with the loss and I’m not the type of person who can sit at home and cry all day.

“I cry all day because I miss him so much, but then I go to where he used to work, I feel closer to him. I’m not saying that is the right way for me to grieve and deal with the loss.”