It has been said that no artiste started from the top. They all worked their way from the bottom, earning “chicken feed” and then asking for and been paid hundreds of thousands and even millions…
The story of Kiernan Jarryd Forbes, the South African rapper long famous as AKA, is no different. The songster was a guest, alongside Costa Titch, on the podcast Life With Lebang, during which he spoke on how much he was paid for his first gig, and more.
According to the “Fela in Versace” hitmaker, his first gig was at the M & A in Sandton and he was paid just R500 to perform. Back then the money wasn’t much; and even now, it isn’t. But it filled some needs for the songster.
He revealed that he bought gas with R250 and used the other R250 for Hunters. And the money was gone.
That was many years ago. Now, though, as one of the key figures in South African rap, the songster earns pretty high. His performance fee is said to range from R50k to R100k.
For his part, in the same interview, Costa Titch, who recently released the joint album “You’re Welcome” with AKA frowned at clubs giving artists just alcohol to perform.
