19872014: Early life and early career Rikhado Muziwendlovu Makhado was born on 20 July 1987. He was raised in
KwaMashu township near
Durban,
Natal. His childhood friends described him as a creative individual who was entrepreneurial, kind and artistically gifted, even at a young age. Makhado's music career actually began at a recording studio session with Bongani Fassie, son of the "African queen of Afropop"
Brenda Fassie. It was by Fassie's side that Makhado was inspired to make his own music. That is when he released his first single "Barbershop" featuring
Da L.E.S.
20152022: Family Values, Scooby Snacks EP His single
Fok Julle Naaiers (Nafukwa) which was released in 2014, won an MTV Africa Music Award for Video of the Year. On 3 April 2015, his debut studio album
Family Values was released and received positive reviews from music critics. It featured guest appearances from
Cassper Nyovest,
Okmalumkoolkat, Zano and Black Motion. The album was certified platinum by the
Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA) with sales of over 50 000 units. Its success saw him nominated for eight South African Hip-Hop Awards (SAHHAs) that year, more than any other artist.
Family Values remains his only studio album to date. It was released and made available for purchase on
iTunes by Makhado Makhado Agency on 3 April 2015. On 24 April 2014, his single "
Sondela", featuring Zano, was released, which was dedicated to his beloved wife Bianca. On 28 October 2014, the smash hit Boss Zonke was released, which peaked at number 3 on the SA Hip Hop Top Ten List. One of the most popular tracks on the tracklist "Amantombazane" led to the "
Amantombazane Remix" which featured fellow South African recording artists
OkMalumKoolKat,
Maggz,
Kwesta,
Ginger Breadman,
Kid X,
Nadia Nakai and
DJ Dimplez. The track was nominated for Remix of the Year at the 2015 South African Music Awards (SAMAs). In June 2016, his single "Sidlukotini" was released. "Sidlukotini" directly translates to "We are eating cotton" in
Zulu. This song spoke to Makhado's love for fashion. For Sidlukotini, he won Best Hit Single at the 2016 Metro FM Music Awards, an award ceremony that infamously saw him take to the stage and criticise the awards for being rigged before encouraging upcoming musicians to forget the radio and make their songs "pop on the internet". He left independent record label Mabala Noise shortly after the awards. He then released the
Scooby Snacks EP that features only one artist, Frank Casino. It includes the tracks "Oh Lord", "Bandz Over Fans" and "Family" (featuring Frank Casino). He followed up his growing body of work when he released "Buy It Out" on 15 September 2017. Just a year later, he released a new EP,
Stay Shining, through a licensing deal between his new label Cotton Club Records and Sony Music Entertainment Africa. In November 2018, he announced his first concert called "Cotton Fest", which he personally headlined on 2 February 2019. In an interview in 2019, Riky described the festival as being "... for us, by us, for the people, for everybody. It's not about me. It's not a one-man show." == Personal life ==