South African Rapper Rikhado Makhado better known by his stage name Riky Rick has apparently conducted a research on why SA hip-hop still finds it hard to dominate the global music space.


While the rapper has received global acclaim for some of his songs, he believes that South African hip-hop doesn’t have what it takes to dominate the international music space in the meantime.



Speaking to UK’s Pause magazine, the Sidlukotini hitmaker explained that because most SA hip-hop artists and artists in other genres rely heavily on creating songs for “neighbourhood and culture” it would be hard to for their songs to dominate the global scene.

“In South Africa, we don’t make songs for the world you know. We literally make songs for our neighbourhood and our culture which is like good for South African people as a tradition but it’s bad because a lot of people outside never get to understand. So it takes a while for it to build,” he explained.



Though the rapper sees no problem in reflecting one’s culture in their music and definitely sees nothing wrong with South African rappers approach, he still thinks they need to make it more universal so that people who are not familiar with their culture can understand.


Although he is generally known as a rapper, Riky told the publication that he gravitates more towards kwaito in his creative process.



“My music is eclectic and a bit confused in some sense. I’m like a kwaito artist, kwaito is like my main genre. Kwaito is basically rapping in our own language, Zulu or whatever it is and creating a vibe out of that,” he said.



According to the rapper, he personally drew inspiration for his music from all things South African including the local languages.





Aside from being criticised for his love for foreign clothing, the rapper usually has a taste of authentic SA elements in his songs. Besides, he has produced songs that have received great airplay and celebrated across different cultures.


Irrespective of the language barrier, Riky has also received love from his international fans, despite the language barrier. He has performed in foreign countries including London and Hungary where they loved his music.