Lynn Forbes Offers Emotional Insight on AKA’s Unreleased Tracks: “If It Were Up to Me, It Would Never Happen.” In one of the most poignant moments since the tragic death of Kiernan “AKA” Forbes in February 2023, his mother, Lynn Forbes, has shared her thoughts on the significant amount of unreleased music he left behind, issuing a heartfelt message to fans eager for new releases.
Lynn Forbes Offers Emotional Insight on AKA’s Unreleased Tracks: “If It Were Up to Me, It Would Never Happen”This moment arose during an interview with L-Tido, a prominent figure in South African hip-hop, who directly posed the question that has lingered in the minds of AKA’s devotees for three years: “Can the fans expect AKA’s new music?”
Lynn’s reply was complex, reflecting the depth of a mother’s understanding of her child. It was neither an outright negation nor the optimistic affirmation many hoped for.
“I’m gonna be honest, we’re having an open conversation,” she said. “I can’t say never. I cannot say yes it will happen at this point, and I will tell you why.”
She explained that the family and estate have already gone through a considerable amount of unreleased music. The sheer quantity is impressive, but quantity is not the sole concern.
“Here’s the thing,” Lynn continued, her voice steady yet heavy with a mother’s burden, “and this could just be me feeling this way… Because I’m not working by myself. There’s an estate, we need to look at what can be done and what cannot be done. But we can also not just do things for the sake of the fans want music.”
For the first time in public discourse, Lynn articulated the critical dilemma central to the decision: the balance between honoring her son’s artistic legacy and the risk of commodifying it.
“For me, it’s always been, would Kiernan have released this music?” she stated. “So I think we’re going to go forward, looking at it saying, on the one hand, we could probably release all the music. There’s so much. If we want to do it, we can. But do we wanna do it? How would he have felt about us?”
Then came the statement that will resonate with every AKA fan:
“If it’s up to me personally, I’m gonna be honest – if I have to make the final decision, it will not happen. That’s how I feel about it.”
She paused, recognizing the emotional turmoil that accompanies such a position. “But you see again, this is the thing where I’m saying to you, there’s the mother and then there’s something different.”
Lynn emphasized that she does not make these decisions alone. The estate, collaborators, and industry professionals play significant roles in the process. Yet, she repeatedly returned to one crucial consideration: Kiernan’s standards for his work.
“I’m just saying to you as a mother and knowing my son. His work ethic, how he was very meticulous; he was about perfection and excellence and all of that. Can we actually do that with his music? Are we capable of doing that with his music? To the point that he would’ve done?”
The question lingered, a solemn note in the conversation.
L-Tido’s straightforward inquiry had opened a portal into a profound sorrow that countless South Africans and international fans have sought to honor while quietly yearning for new music. However, Lynn Forbes offered something more significant: a commitment to transparency.
She does not dismiss the idea entirely, but she remains fiercely protective of her son’s legacy and the standards he embodied. Releasing incomplete or imperfect content simply to satisfy fan demand, in her view, is not an expression of love; it’s a failure to respect everything AKA stood for.
At present, the music remains archived.
The decision on whether it will eventually be shared will not be influenced by fan enthusiasm, streaming figures, or industry expectations. It will rely on a singular inquiry that only those closest to Kiernan can truly answer:
Would he have wanted this music released?
For now, the person who knew him best seems to be leaning towards “no.”
