After winning South African hearts with his music, rapper Riky Rick lost his battle with mental illness. Known for galvanizing and inspiring the youth with his words, his death meant the nation didn’t just lose a massive musical talent, but also a positive and pivotal piece of youth culture.

Riky was a huge influence on many, and we knew that the power of his words could uplift anyone who heard them. So, after his death, we scrolled through his social media posts and used them to make one last song from him titled “Stronger”. 

We took Riky’s posts and laid them down as rap lyrics over a beat made by his long-time collaborator, Ganja Beats. We then got a rap impersonator and voice artist to imitate Riky’s rap style and flow. In the next part of the process we took audio separates from Riky’s interviews and songs and enlisted AI software to recreate Riky’s voice. We then matched Riky’s AI modelled voice to the impersonator’s, and then removed the impersonator so that we were left with just Riky. 

The song, which encourages mental well-being, was released through a foundation that was started to keep his legacy alive and all proceeds will go organisations working to improve the mental well-being in South Africa.