A few weeks back, I was so excited when Riky Rick announced that Cotton Fest was back. I remember telling my friends how happy I was and recruiting them to attend the party. Little did I know that Riky Ricky’s death would come before the highly anticipated event.
Since the year started, I’ve been writing tributes every week and never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be writing one for one of my favourite local musicians, Rikhado Makhado, aka Riky Rick, at least not so soon.
According to the statement released by the Makhado family, the “Boss Zonke” hitmaker passed in the early hours of Wednesday morning (February 23). He was 34 years of age and leaves behind his wife, two children, his mother and five siblings.
He rose to fame in 2014 when he released his hit single Nafukwa, but it wasn’t until he dropped Amantombazane Remix that same year that I fell in love with him. I still think that that is one of the best remixes I’ve ever heard.
While his music was good, his fashion sense was impeccable. At first, many couldn’t understand his vision, but he knew what he was on about when he named himself King Kotini.
He was always a trendsetter, and never backed down. I remember in 2018 when he was a guest at Live AMP, where he wore a skirt and cardigan by Maxhosa Africa. Many people thought he was “crazy” – how could a man dare wear a skirt? But it was normal. He rocked that outfit, and it looked so good on him.
Let’s not forget the South African Music Awards 2018, where he wore an outfit from the Chulaap Autumn/Winter 2018 collection and people thought the mask he wore (inspired by Phyllis Galembo’s book Maske) was an orange sack, lol.
When it came to fashion, he always got people talking. It’s safe to say that he was passionate because not only was he a dope fashionista/stylist, he was also a model.
Maxhosa Africa was one of his favourite brands, and in 2020 he celebrated his partnership with the brand and featured in the Ingumangaliso Imisebenzi KaThixo/ God’s Work Is Miraculous SS21 collection.
Now, we know that it’s almost every fashionista’s dream to visit Italy, the capital of fashion, and, fortunately for Makhado, he lived that dream.
In 2017, Gucci invited him to attend its fashion show at Milan Fashion Week, where he got to meet A$AP Rocky, who, like himself, is a fashionista of note.
Every fashion icon must grace magazine covers, and Makhado did exactly that. He was one of the few South Africans to feature on both covers of GQ South Africa and GQ Style. He made it to GQ Style in 2017 for the Gentlemen’s Quarterly issue and was on GQ SA in 2020 for the October issue, donning Maxhosa Africa.
One of his most memorable fashion moments was when he met his fashion icon, Tommy Hilfiger. Makhado's love for fashion dates from way back. Growing up, he always wanted to meet Hilfiger, and it wasn’t until 2019 that his dream became a reality.
“In 1998, we moved to Austria with my mother. The new school my brothers and I went to didn’t require uniforms, so naturally our friends introduced us to new styles and brands that included a label by this man named @tommyhilfiger. We begged my mother to buy us a pair of Tommy Jeans, but coming from where we come from and trying to raise four children in a foreign country doesn’t put you in a position to keep up with fashion labels. She did her best to keep us presentable at school, but buying Tommy Hilfiger was out of the question, even though she would’ve if she could’ve,” said Makhado at the time.
He added that Hilfiger was the reason he loved fashion.
"Meeting this man and telling him the story of how his brand was the reason I FELL IN LOVE WITH THE MPAHLAS was full circle. Thank you, malume (uncle) @tommyhilfiger, for giving me time and bringing me out for your show, you are much appreciated, ICON."
Here’s more of our favourite looks by Riky Rick, aka King Kotini: