iFani Reflects on Music Hiatus

In a revealing interview published on April 21, 2026, South African rapper iFani opened up about the complex factors that led to his decade-long departure from the music industry. 

The “Einglish” hitmaker cited a combination of severe mental health struggles and the lingering emotional weight of his past feud with the late Kiernan “AKA” Forbes as the catalysts for his hiatus.

iFani explained that the pressures of the industry, exacerbated by public rivalries, took a significant toll on his well-being. “I wasn’t in a good space mentally,” he admitted during the discussion, noting that he needed to prioritise his sanity over his celebrity status. 

Reflecting on his fallout with AKA, who was killed in 2023, iFani expressed regret over how their competitive friction manifested, stating, “The feud with AKA weighed on me more than I let on at the time.”

The feud between iFani and AKA was ignited in May 2015 when iFani announced that his album, I Believes In Me (2nd Quadrant), had achieved Gold status within a single day. 

AKA publicly challenged the legitimacy of this milestone on social media, accusing iFani and his corporate sponsors of “buying” the success to manipulate the charts. 

This accusation sparked a legendary “Twitter war” that turned deeply personal, with AKA labelling the feat as “fudge” while iFani countered that the rapper was simply intimidated by his unique commercial appeal.

Since his return to the spotlight, iFani has become a vocal advocate for mental health awareness within the hip-hop community. Industry peers have lauded his honesty; notably, several local artists commented on social media that his story “serves as a vital reminder to prioritize the man behind the brand.” 

Now focussed on his “iFani 2.0” era, the artist insists he is making music for himself again, free from the “toxic need for validation” that previously clouded his career.

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