The late rapper Riky Rick’s Foundation has released a posthumous tribute song titled ‘’Stronger’’ which pays homage to his final tweet ‘’I’ll return a stronger man’’.
According to a statement by the foundation, the track was pieced together by his longtime music collaborators, Lebo Machudi, Ganja Beatz and Audio Militia through the use of artificial intelligence, with his own words and images taken from his social media posts.
Rikhado ’Riky Rick’, Makhado took his own life in February last year at the age of 34.
In the first part of the song, Riky can be heard saying death isn’t life’s biggest loss.
‘’Eish but look, death is not the greatest loss in this life, the greatest loss is what dies inside while we’re alive. That’s why I really wanted to remember that you have to take care of the people that are close to you’’.
He was widely celebrated and recognized for his contribution to fashion, music and his activism for youth development.
The Riky Rick Foundation says while the release of this new offering is to keep his legacy alive, it believes that it will raise awareness to mental health issues.
“The message we are getting out of this campaign will honour Riky’s legacy of promoting positivity. We hope it benefits his fans and anyone struggling with mental health’’, the statement read.
The song was welcomed with mixed emotions and fans took to Twitter to express themselves.
‘’This is so beautiful, hle’’, one user tweeted.
‘’In (the) spirit of men’s mental health month, I think this is so beautiful and mind blowing actually’’.
As it continued to receive love, some users didn’t hold back on their disapproval.
‘’Weird…don’t like this’’.
‘’I love Riky as much as the next South African but this is…uhm creepy?’’, said another user.
The foundation says it aims to raise funds to support the efforts of individuals and organisations that promote mental well- being.
The department of health encourages those struggling with mental illness to, among others, make use of The South African Depression and Anxiety Group, SADAG’s, 24/7 services on 080 021 2223/080 045 6729.
