Western Cape emcee YoungstaCPT penned a sincere and heartfelt tribute song dedicated to the recently departed South African artist Riky Rick. Written in the form of a letter, the song is a personal account of Youngsta’s deep feelings and sentiments towards his fallen compatriot.
Built off of Riky’s debut album Family Values’ intro, the instrumental is a sparse loop that allows YoungstaCPT to pour his heart out. A clip of Riky Rick in conversation with Youngsta starts the song off, with Riky eerily saying to him, “In a hundred years from now, we’ll all be gone, all of this, you know, will disappear, it will disintegrate, maybe it will burn down, it will freeze over… you know, this board will stop working, these mics will be useless… when that time comes, what do you want people to remember about YoungstaCPT?”
With words terse and full of emotion, Youngsta, whose real name is Riyadh Roberts, contends with some of his regrets regarding a verse he never asked for from Riky while he was alive. “Saw you in Jo’burg when I could for those short stays, I wish we could have collaborated in more ways… Should have begged for that verse, didn’t wanna seem like I’m desperate, but I thank you for your time, your energy and your efforts…”
YoungstaCPT spends the rest of the song eulogising Riky Rick as the great person that he was, he speaks on how affected he has been by his passing and wishes him eternal peace as well as sending condolences to his family. The song reaches a gut-wrenching end with Riyadh apologising to Riky and wishing for Allah to have mercy on his soul, with a clip of Riyadh and Rikhado in happy times playing at the end.
Listen to “Dear Rikhado, Love Riyadh” below:
