MIDRAND, SOUTH AFRICA - APRIL 26: Nadia Nakai & AKA during the SA Fashion Week opening party at Mall of Africa on April 26, 2022 in Midrand, South Africa. The annual fashion show has become one of the country's highly-anticipated events on the entertainment calendar, with local designers and celebrities joining forces to pull out all the stops on the red carpet. (Photo by Oupa Bopape/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
Nadia Nakai gained fame in the US for her outspoken personality on Netflix’s “Young, African & Famous.” On the reality show, she shared past and current relationships, her journey into music, and her current career as an African hip hop artist.
Recently, Nadia stepped into The Shade Room for an exclusive interview with TSR Teens’ Taylor Bickham to reflect on her relationship with Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes, her role as a reality TV star, and making music in a male-dominated industry.
Earlier this year, Nadia shared a heartfelt message on social media following the funeral of her boyfriend, Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes. He was killed on February 10. The 35-year-old was a best-selling South African hip-hop artist with hit singles like “Fela in Versace,” “Prada,” “Lemons (Lemonade)” and “All Eyes On Me.”
In that message, she wrote about the plans that they had as a couple and how the situation made her question God.
“There is no pain bigger than the pain of losing you. I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with you, I realise you’re the one who spent the rest of your life with me. I don’t know why things happen the way they do, but I’m questioning God right now. Why would he bring us together to only take you away. I just don’t understand. I don’t know how I’m going to do this, going on with my life without you, I just can’t.”
Keep reading to see her reflections on her & AKA’s relationship and how she plans to approach love.
Nadia Nakai: “My type are bosses. Bosses. I am not the type of girl that goes for guys with money, but sometimes I feel like social currency outweighs the money that you have in your pocket. I need to be able to feel like when I walk into a space, your money is not going to open the doors that I need it to… want to be able to walk into a space where people are like, ‘Damn. He’s here.’ That’s the type of n—-s I like — that can shake a room with just their presence. That’s sexy to me. So, um.. Yeah, bosses.”
Nadia: “I think I am open to it now because I really don’t want public relationships anymore. I think I have to rewire my brain because I’ve always been about this power couple energy. I want to be strong, but I also wanted a guy that’s strong. And if a guy is strong, he’s going to be known, and I’m already known.”
“Because I’ve dated guys that are a little bit more understated, and there are a lot of self-consciousness on the way that I dress and the guys that I deal with and the guys that I’m going on tour with, and the guys I make songs with and in the studio to a point where I had an ex-boyfriend that contacted my manager to talk to him about how I dress, and that for me is overstepping because now you’re coming into my business talking to my manager about the way I’m dressing.”
“But, if you’re dealing with a boss, he’s not going to be self-conscious because he’s very self-aware, you know. So, that’s where it becomes tricky because I don’t want to deal with a self-conscious person that wants to bring me down and dim my light so you feel better as a man for yourself and that’s the problem with the hierarchy. For me, I’m a big deal, but I need a guy that’s a bigger deal so that I can match up, but you’re not trying to bring me down to you.”
Nadia: “I did. I have.”
Nadia: “I don’t think so, I feel like I’ve found the love of my life, and the devil took him, and honestly, when I look around… when I go into these clubs, and I go into these spaces and I look at the men that are around he was, like, the last of a dying breed for me. I feel like guys right now are not about chivalry. They’re not about being the man in the relationship, they are not about leading their household. They are not about that stuff anymore, you know… [Some] are okay with their women working their butts off to look after them and themselves. They are just ratchet beings.”
“This mentality of being a guy that’s for every girl. There’s no one that wants to build a life. Let’s get married, let’s have kids, let’s build a house, or let’s move together. It’s like a flex for them [to say], ‘Oh, I got this bad b—-, but I also got these little bad b—-s around, and I’m f—ing around with these.’ It’s like a flex for them now. They don’t aspire to be a family man. That’s the type of woman I am. I want to be a family woman. Unfortunately, I’ve kissed multiple frogs, and then I got my Prince [AKA], and then things changed. So, I don’t see myself trying again. I don’t see it happening. But, I don’t want to close the doors because I’d like to be open because maybe God still has a plan for me, I’m hoping. But, I think God knows my heart because I have these battles where [I’m like], ‘I don’t want it!’ Then, I’m like, ‘God, please. I don’t want to be alone.’ But, like, also, ‘No, screw this.” Then, ‘God, please, I just want to be able to have kids.’ You know, there’s kind of that battle.”
Nadia: “I do, but I just don’t see how. I would love to have kids. I would love to have my own family set up. I’m alone a lot of the time. When I’m at home, I’m by myself. I live alone, it’s just me and my dog. And, if I am not working, I am at home. So, it’s, like, I would love to come home to, like, a situation. You know? But I don’t see that happening.”
Nadia: “Yeah, or when you go back home, and that person isn’t there anymore.”
Nadia: “I think I am still in the process of it because it’s very early. I’m just working. I am doing absolutely everything all of the time. I feel like, also, this feeling of time. Realizing that time is not forever. I am trying to do everything now. I don’t want to run out of time. So, while I’m here, I am going to do everything now, and I want it done now. So, there’s this urgency kind of thing that’s happening. But it’s literally just putting everything into work. Working on my album… I’m launching a podcast soon called ‘Hello Bragga’. I’ve now lifted off with my makeup brand… which should be in stores soon. I am doing my clothing thing. I am shooting a video as soon as I get back, and then YFA is about to start shooting, so I am literally filling up my calendar.”
Nadia Nakai: “His public perception was a very hard person. He was very, like, unapproachable. Very.. problematic in some ways on social media. But, with me, he was the biggest teddy bear. Like, I saw all of his soft side, and it was reserved for me, and I love that because no one else got to see that soft side, and that’s what always makes me chuckle and smile. Even when he would laugh, he had, like, this boyish thing about him that no one got to see. Like, everyone thought of him as this hard [person], even me, like before I got to know him… I was like, wow! And, when I got to know him how he’s such a little baby with me is what I love the most.”
“And he would have these things where he would get excited about stuff and run to me like, “Baby!” to me. Like, a boy. And, he was tall and had grown shoulders, and I’m just like.. awww. You’re so cute! But, like, when he was in the club, he was very, like… if someone is talking to me, he’s like, “Hey! Uh Uh!”… He’s not an approachable person, or he wasn’t approachable. But for me, he was [different].”
Nadia Nakai: We do! We recorded a lot of music. But, I think, I don’t know, maybe in a couple of years. There’s no way that I could even think about listening to them now. But maybe in a couple years. I can’t even think about sitting in the studio and touching the songs now.”
Nadia Nakai: “Yeah, and he inspired me a lot because he was such a great artist, so it’s like, “Oh my gosh. I am sitting in the lounge working with my boyfriend on music, who is actually the number one artist in the country… in the continent, you know?”
Nadia Nakai: “We used to do a lot of, like, food vlogs. We used to eat out a lot. He’s a serious foodie, so we used to… they are still on my TikToks somewhere… I was actually watching a lot of them this morning. So, date night would be a restaurant that he really wants to take me to, vlog it, try the new food… stuff like that. And, if it’s not that, then we are cooking at home. We are very homebodies. We like being at home a lot of the time. So, date nights is definitely eating food somewhere.”
Nadia Nakai: “Don’t love! Don’t kiss boys, don’t kiss them. Leave them alone. Don’t do it. Just don’t kiss boys. I watch movies, and I see people kissing, and I’m just like, ‘What a mistake! Because you’re going to fall in love, and that person can go.’ That devastation is wild. Don’t do it. Just don’t do it.”
Nadia Nakai: “So, “Nadia Naked” was my first official offering after quite some time. I actually have been running my career based purely on singles, which actually did very well for me. We actually had one single the whole year, but I still managed [to secure] brand deals and stuff like that… I was like there’s no necessity for me to drop an album, but I think because of the mysteriousness that I’ve had people always wanted to know my story, and I am not a person that talks a lot about my personal life on socials so I’m like.. Okay… I have time to drop another album, I’ve created enough hype.”
“And, I grew up to listening to, like, Jill Scott and Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill… amazing storytellers. So, when I tackled this album, I was like, I really want to be able to tell different stories about who I am and what actually molds ‘Nadia’. So, my background from having a Zimbabwean mom, being in South Africa, trying to conquer Africa, and being a girl in a male-dominated industry. South Africa is even more male-dominated. So, being able to conquer my way through the industry and really be one of the most booked people in the country. As well as the most branded people in the country. Also, I think what I was saying earlier there’s a little bit of conservativeness when it comes to, like, Africans, especially in South Africa. When I came out, it was ‘risqué.’ I’m going to talk about sex, I’m gonna have my bums out, and even though I was still definitely celebrated, there was always backlash, like, “Oh, Nadia is famous because she is selling sex, and she’s being very sexual about her things and all of that.”
Nadia: “They weren’t used to that, especially coming from a woman like me. So, that’s why I was like, I am going to call the album “Nadia Naked” because first, people say that I’m always naked, but honestly, this is me kind of stripping away all the barriers that I’ve painted around myself, and for people to get to know who I am and actually listen to the music and know I put a lot of hard work into this thing. It’s not because of how I look. It’s not “pretty privilege”. I really worked hard, and there’s a lot of things that influence me to become the person that I am today.”
Nadia Nakai: “I honestly think you have to grow into it. A lot of girls will come out and say I want to be risqué. I want to be like that because that’s what’s globally the energy right now. When I started out, I wasn’t like that because I was young. I was talking about young girl stuff, and then I became a woman, I grew up, and I started having sex, and I started, you know, exploring my sexuality. It was my experience. So that’s why people are like, ‘Nadia, you never used to rap like this! You’re all risqué,’ and that’s because I’ve grown into this woman that identifies with certain things about her life and as a person [and] that’s what’s coming out of my music. And, my music is my experiences.”
“Everything that I talk about is things that I’ve experienced. It’s not fake, and I think people need to understand that you must allow yourself to grow into that journey because that’s how you become authentic, people hear it from you, and that’s how they know it really is authentic to you. You’re not putting on a facade, or you’re not putting on a jacket to say this is what hip hop girls look like, and this is how they sound, so therefore, this is what I’m going to do because it’s going to look very fake. They are not going to believe you.”
Nadia Nakai: “Nicki Minaj, definitely. She has been so influential in my career to a point that I didn’t even realize it. When I started making music, Nicki will always be goated, but when she came out, she was all over the place. I used to fight because fliers used to say ‘Nadia Nakai ss. Nicki Minaj,’ and I used to get very upset about that because I’m like I’m trying to have my own identity. But in the other way, I see it as if, okay, that is a compliment because you’re comparing me to the best of the best.”
“Nicki is somebody I really look up to. Missy Elliot is somebody I really look up to. Eve is somebody I really look up to because I have a very bully cadence to the way that I rap. It’s not very feminine. It’s kind of gully with a deep voice, ya know? So, Eve is somebody that I looked up to because she always had that gangsta vibe… very thuggish… and I absolutely love that. Lauryn Hill is like G.O.A.T. to me because I used to listen to her album. I know most of the songs word for word, and the way that she tells the stories I feel like…I’m not like her… but when people listen to my album, they say, ‘You tell stories. You remind me of Lauryn.’ The way that I was actually reciting things that happened in my life.”
“Like, I have a song called ‘Africa,’ and I am talking about our males who are taken away from our country and cultivated other places, and that’s storytelling, you know, and I learned that from her. Some of the new guys… I love Dreezy. Dreezy’s such a dope vibe. I love her so much. She’s so cool. Cardi is amazing. I love her energy and her vibe. Meg, I love her music. I love her bully vibe, but a lot of people compare me to her as well because we kind of have the same smile, and we are also very tall b—-. Like, very, very tall, and we kind of have the same energy on TikTok. I would definitely like to work with Meg, as well.”
Nadia: “You might be surprised, but Ludacris. Purely because I loved him so much as a kid. It’ll be this nostalgic [moment] like ‘Oh my gosh, Luda.’ I would really love to do a song with him, like a dirty trap song. Obviously, Kanye, but most likely the old Kanye, maybe. Travis, definitely. Drake. Those are the guys’ albums that I still listen to ‘til this day. I appreciate the new definitely, but that’s not for me. I appreciate the kind of hip-hop that made me feel some type of way. That era when it was like Young Money, and they all moved together. That’s the vibe.”
Nadia Nakai: “So many… it’s actually crazy because there are so many African artists that I would like to work with, like Tiwa Savage, I’m a huge fan of her, and she doesn’t see me. Like, I keep trying to get her attention, and she doesn’t see me, but I love her. She’s amazing. I would love to work with her. Yemi Alade is another person I’d love to work with. Aya Nakamura… she’s French. She’s amazing, and she sings in French, but it’s amazing. Mr. Eazi… he is really cool.”
Nadia Nakai: “I got a degree in Marketing, Media Studies & Communications, and I actually worked at an advertising agency for two years before I focused on my music. So, I would probably do that. I would probably work in advertising because it’s nice and you can work on multiple brands at the same time, but if I had to focus on a brand, it would probably be in a marketing department of Nike because they do a lot of fun stuff. Or, like CocoCola or Viacom.”
NN: “100%. I think, even globally, people expect a lot more from females than men. Men can do the bare minimum. They can wear the same day and jump on stage and perform, and everything is fine. But, with us, you have to make sure your outfit changes. Is it sequins? Is it beads? Oh my gosh, is the hair laid? Is the makeup done? There’s so much that goes into me actually going onto stage.”
“But it’s so funny that you won’t pay me the same as the guy who did absolutely nothing. He didn’t even put on powder on his face. And, they feel like, why are we paying you so much? There’s so many options for a male most of the time. But, when I get there, they don’t get that I’m putting on a show. When I put my outfit on, I am thinking about how to flex on the lights in Michael Jackson style. If I have white nails instead of a white glove because I want the last row to see it when I put my hand up.”
“It’s intentional, everything is intentional… And, then, when you lack on that standard, by the way, then they don’t want you because then they are, like, babes, you’re not looking after yourself, so what do you want? Pay me what I deserve to give me the show I want to give you. I think that’s why it’s also delayed me to get to a point where I want to do a one-man show because it’s going to cost a lot of money to do it. I can’t just do a one-man show and have one outfit the whole time. It really has to embody that feel of Nadia Nakai. Of a show… of a concert… so, I need all the monies.”
NN: “Exactly, but I also think that it’s a problem because a lot of people don’t want to listen to female narratives as well. Like, the album, I have to convince people to listen to my album. I am not only singing about girl stuff. You also resonate with it as a guy, and that’s specifically in Africa, or where I’m from. It’s difficult to get guys to actually listen to the album because they think, ‘Oh, it’s a girl. She’s only going to talk about girl things.”
“I’ve sold clothes that are tracksuits and hoodies and neutral colors, and guys will be like, ‘I can’t go buy that because a girl is selling it,’ but it’s a hoodie. You really can wear it. It’s okay, and I think that’s also an issue. But, women will listen to guys, definitely. I think that’s what we struggle with most, having males understand that they can get a lot of gems from women.”
“But, you know, I think also with Africans there’s still that level of [thinking] that the man is on top and the woman must follow. Not really have your own ideas. It’s not like that, but it’s like an underlining thing that lives in the air.”
Nadia: “I understand why there is probably an outrage, but I don’t agree with it. I do feel like Rema collaborating with Selena Gomez just shows just how much it’s opening up [and] how much it should be like that. The reason why I resonate with it is because a lot of the times when I would collaborate with a male artist who’s bigger than me, they would say, ‘The only reason Nadia’s song did well is because she collaborated with this artist.'”
“There’s always a reason to take away and not feed, you know? I feel like, as Africans, we need to unlearn that. There’s a lot of bringing down syndrome. Oh, you’re doing well? Let’s just bring you down. Oh, you got an award? Let’s just bring you down. The reason why you’re on that stage is because of this. Let me bring you down. And unfortunately, it’s embedded within our DNA because of our history. We are always oppressed, we are always put on the back burner, and sometimes you can’t unlearn some of the things that are literally, actually, in our DNA. At the end of the day, music is music.”
“And I think the song was amazing, regardless. Actually, I don’t even know the original because she’s on the remix, right? I actually don’t even know what her verse sounds like to be honest [because] to me, it’s the original. Like, that’s a very big song. And, I don’t think she’s the [only] reason why that song is so successful and why it did so well. But I do get the…’Why couldn’t you get Beyonce? Why [couldn’t] you be Black with it?'”
Nadia Nakai: “I agree with you, and I also feel like a lot of times when artists say they are going on a world tour, they leave Africa out, you know. And, I realize, for South Africa specifically, we are so far away from you guys. It took me 20 hours to get here, and South Africa is seven hours behind.”
“[America is] always seeing things late. So when African artists are collaborating with American artists, like the Selenas and Justin Beibers, [they] are closing the gap even more for us because we are physically so much further away. [They] are closing that gap between the two. So, they know you can’t have a world tour and not include Africa, and that is stuff that needs to start changing, and that happens with collaborations.”
Nadia Nakai: “Well, it is a strategic plan. It’s not like I’m going to do hosting for everything. I think AFRIMMA is perfect because I really want to solidify my footprint in Africa because Africa is very important to me.”
“So I was like, definitely to this opportunity. I have to take it. But it’s not about just the bag. It’s about where I want to grow, and I’m getting older, you know, I want to get to a place where I don’t necessarily have to be in the club unless I want to. You know, what I realize with American artists is they tour when they drop a project, whereas in South Africa, we gig every weekend from Thursday to Monday, every weekend. So, if we drop a song or not, that’s how we are making our money because we are gigging every single weekend, every single day.”
Nadia Nakai: “We have to. It’s not like you only tour because you dropped a project. No, that’s not like that, and I realize in America it’s like that. So, the whole six months, they can be chilling working on an album. We are working on our album and still gigging on the weekend, you know.”
“So, that’s kind of what I want to get into, but because with us, we need multiple incomes to be able to sustain our lifestyle. If I can do the hosting stuff, focus on my project, and not have to be in the club so much because it separates what I’m trying to do in the music. So when I drop a project and do like three shows in the country, that is the kind of thing I want to build for myself instead of having to be in the club constantly because I feel like I am over-saturating myself. I don’t want people to be that familiar with me and that available to me.”
Nadia Nakai: “People think that it’s scripted, especially with YFA [“Young, Famous & African”], and it’s not. It really isn’t. They obviously set up the [situation], like if we have an event, they’ll set up the event in a specific place, but once they start rolling, they roll, and everything that happens happens. The storyline happens within that space, and we walk off, the cameras just follow you and film it.”
“But, why people probably think it’s scripted is because, from season one, Zari [Hassan] came and shocked the whole situation because she came with the most amount of drama. All of us were kumbaya-ing just loving each other, and she came and caused such drama. I think in season two, the cast members themselves realize that if they cause drama, they will get more airtime, or whatever the case is, but they are not told to do that. The cast members decide what they want to do.”
“It’s very what you make it. If you want to be dramatic, then you’ll be dramatic, but I think everyone was like, ‘I want to come with the drama this season because I also want to be..’ Because Zari was one of the most talked about cast members on the show, and essentially she wasn’t supposed to be a part of the cast. She caused so much drama that they added her to the cast because they were like, ‘You shook everybody up.’ You know what I mean? Then, people were like, ‘Okay, season two, we all are going to shake things up.’ No one told her to do that.”
Nadia Nakai: “Because it was too much going on. Everyone had drama. Like, season one, the only drama was Annie [Macaulay-Idibia], Zari [Hassan], Andile [Ncub], and Diamond [Platnumz]. But, like in this season, everyone had drama.”
“I couldn’t find where I was going, where’s left and right. I was just like a spectator now. [I was] just like… guys, please. And, then, when [Zari] and Fantana had their blow-up at my sound check, that’s when I was like, ‘Guys, relax. This is not how it’s supposed to be because you guys are going at each other, and it’s actually the man’s fault. This is Diamond’s problem, this is what he’s doing to you guys.'”
“But otherwise, for me, it’s like a lot of drama that was going on, and very weird uncertainties that were happening with some new cast members, and Swanky [Jerry] was being weird all of a sudden. We still, also, have a weird relationship since then because I just felt like, who are you, dude?”
Nadia Nakai: “Well, the people that I’m cool with. Like, me and Khanyi [Mbau], that’s my big sis. I love her to death. Like, she is my favorite. Swanky [Jerry] and I have always had a relationship even before YFA, so we’ve always been really cool. I love him to death. Who else am I cool with? Andile [Ncub]. Andile is also someone I’ve known for the longest time, and he’s like a big bro. We get along very well.”
“Annie [Macaulay-Idibia], no, we haven’t spoken since I think she watched the show, and she got very upset at some of the comments that I made. I don’t know if she’s upset with me about the whole 2Face [2Baba] dinner thing. I still have to address that kind of stuff because I actually don’t know where we stand. And, I did say I don’t think Annie is my friend, so I think that’s probably why we haven’t really [talked]. Even on socials, she doesn’t really tag me in stuff anymore, and stuff.”
Nadia Nakai: “Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. When we start shooting again, I will be able to clear the air and find out if there is an issue because I never got to.”
Nadia Nakai: “I wait purely for the ones that live in a different country, so Annie went back to Nigeria. Also, Swanky went back to Nigeria, and I like having things face to face, and I think just for the value of the show, it would be better to do it on the show anyway because that’s where the drama is happening.”
“But even before we start shooting, I think I will probably have the conversation with her and be like, ‘Are we cool? Are we not?’ Annie is also very open with her feelings, so I think I will be able to pick up if there is a vibe or not. But we will see.”
Nadia Nakai: Me and Diamond?
Nadia Nakai: “I don’t know what he was trying to do, to be honest. I think he probably saw me as an option to vibe with. In season two, he saw Fantana, and it kind of worked out for him. I don’t know what was happening because the first thing that we did was he dedicated a song to me on stage, and I never got that vibe from him off camera.”
“So, for me, I was like, it’s not authentic, and was in a relationship, and it was long distance, and I really wasn’t interested. But I don’t want to be rude because I still wanted to work with this guy, and even though I shut him down, he still gave me that vibe that he doesn’t want to work anymore. And that’s kind of the thing with being a female artist. It’s not necessarily, like, dangling sleeping with the guys, but you have to kind of shut people down nicely so you don’t block doors for yourself. You don’t get to a point where you can’t work with people. You don’t get opportunities because they are like, ‘Oh, I wanted you, and now you’re saying, no, so it’s actually screw you.'”
“Even when I was trying to be nice about it. It still had the same outcome. He still didn’t get into the studio with me, but he got into the studio with Fantana, though, so.”
Nadia is currently gearing up to film season three of “Young, African & Famous” and continues to heal from AKA’s death and aims to break barriers in her industry.
