Later rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes’s bodyguard Anwar “Dogg” Khan sat with podcast duo, Josh Dukwah and Chaka Ngubane, on a recent episode of their “The Load Shed Podcast” programme.
The celebrity bodyguard spoke about his humble beginnings and working his way up the protection services ladder.
He opened up about his relationship and longevity with AKA via the podcast, while also expanding on the dynamics of celebrity protection.
Khan gave viewers an overview of his career to date, which included being trained overseas in secret services, VIP protection and body-guarding among other things.
“In 1994, I got on a plane, went to America, got all the training that is offered, from secret services level down. I came back here and I worked.
“I started training people and upskilling those people and then I broke into the market. Twenty-seven years later, I’m still in the market and leading as far as I’m concerned, because if I look at the A-list and people I’ve protected, I’m not going to find anyone with 25% as much.
“I’m talking about even the international celebrity protection world,” he said.
Khan has protected A-listers like multi-award winning artists, Chris Brown and Rick Ross.
He has also protected The Manhattans, The Stylistics, Kool & The Gang, Keith Sweat, Deborah Cox, Joe, Ciara, Timberland, Fat Joe, DJ Scratch and Lil' Kim, to name a few.
Later in the podcast, he spoke about how, as a VIP protection service, they need to work in synchronicity for the full protection of the “principle” (artist).
He mentioned the time Brown was in the country and headed to Gateway Theatre of Shopping in uMhlanga, where he was swamped by fans.
“Someone screamed Chris Brown. Now Chris likes a bit of mayhem, so what happened was that Gateway went crazy at that moment. Every single person in the stores came out. No one cared about their trolleys. People ran from the top and bottom floors to the centre floor.
“We had to take him into one of the restaurants, through the kitchen, out the back door. One hour later people where still waiting at that restaurant thinking he’s still inside.”
Speaking on his late client’s death, he said he had been booked months in advance and was unavailable to protect AKA that fateful weekend.
“His death hit me in a lot of ways. It’s like why wasn’t I there? What if I was there, was I also going to be taken out. You don’t ever rule that out. Was it God’s timing. It hits you because it’s someone always here.
“When you spend so much of time with an artist. Two gigs before his death we drove to Lusigi for a gig. We sat and spoke, laughed, made jokes and just talked about life and everything.
“I’ve been driving him, protecting him for years. There was never ever a dull moment. When his manager use to phone me and say they coming to town, I used to get excited. It wasn’t so much about the money.
“It was like a loving protecting. And he gave me the same kind of respect, love. He appreciated me. Kiernan was a top guy. He was a good guy,” said Khan.
Watch full podcast below: