“Sondela” rapper Riky Rick, who took his own life two years ago on February 23, 2022, wanted to do much more with his life.
His wife, Bianca Naidoo, revealed this and more in a recent Metro FM interview with DJ Sabby on the “Best Mornings” show.
“I feel like he wanted to do more than he was actually doing and making a difference. When I look at it now, I feel like he probably didn’t feel he was doing enough. That was definitely something that hurt,“ said Naidoo.
She continued: “There were a lot of thing happening in the country, in the industry, those are the things that really didn’t sit well with him, and I think just a whole lot of worldly things he did struggle with.
“And, of course, Riky did struggle with addiction and had a very, very good run and then, unfortunately, struggled again towards the end, so that was really hard for him to feel like he has kind of failed.”
On using Rick’s story to raise awareness on mental health, Naidoo said: “I’m not sure if I’ll be called out for this but, especially with our skin colour, it is so taboo. People just put it behind them and keep moving and think that they will be okay.
“For me, I’m trying to get rid of that narrative… People need to be honest, be there for each other and have conversations around mental health and how we can help and support each other.”
Rick’s mother Louisa Zondo, who was also at the interview, spoke of how her book “Dearest MaRiky — A Mother’s Journey through Grief, Trauma and Healing” was therapeutic and helped her grieve and heal.
“The process of writing the book is not removed from the process of me going deep into my self and looking into myself, and finding myself, so that I would be able to tell myself the story of who I am and what has shaped me, because Rikhado had asked for this, and I was not able to tell him at that time when he was alive.
“The writing of the book came at a time when I had really gruelling therapy, and the book is part of that journey and fully releasing myself, and telling him, even in his absence, the story of my life, with a deep hope that the remaining brothers, fans and people that are grappling with mental health and making sense of life, can also benefit from the book,” said Zondo.
The rest of the interview also covered Naidoo talking about the new foundation, Foundation for the Promotion of Artivism, and Rick’s posthumous new AI-generated single, "Stronger“.
Watch video