AKA: "I wanna be AKA the African superstar"

Despite dominating the SA hip hop scene right now, AKA still sees himself as a three out of ten.

The rapper, who has had a successful career so far, believes that there's so much more to be done. "I don't wanna just be AKA the South African hip hop artist, I wanna be AKA the African superstar like a P-Square, like a D'Banj... I don't really think there's a South African artist who has managed to do that. Look at what Mafikizolo has done, stuff like that. That's the level I see myself going," he said.

The 26-year-old, who's enjoying the success of his second album Levels, has had to make a lot of sacrifices to get to where he is. He described the industry as a lonely job. "You've got to sacrifice a lot of time; time with family, time with friends. You've got to sacrifice some of yourself as well. I don't belong to myself, it's a weird concept... It's like a completely different life now and it's something I understand comes with the territory. It's important to remember that I never really wanted to be a celebrity, I wanted to make like dope sh*t and, you know, when you make dope shit, that's what happens."

Having collaborated with big African artists like Ice Prince, Burna Boy and others, the rapper is already on a level of his own in the country. He believes that passion goes a long way.

He said you have to love what you do. "If you don't love what you do and you're not passionate about it it's not gonna drive you, you're not gonna push yourself. You've always got to challenge yourself, you've got to sacrifice. You've got to plan and work out how to deal with people. You've got to take yourself seriously because if you don't take yourself seriously, who's gonna take you seriously?"

*Picture: Instagram