“He made it so cool just to be me,” began Gumede.
“Let me tell you how this 'Sim Dope' name came to be. So we get to grade 10 and I make the first team in rugby and it's like a big thing for everyone ... I was sitting there and he says to me, 'Sim, now you're a boet, bru, like your boet at school.'
“So we laughed and he said, 'But you can't go on Saturday and just be Simphiwe. I mean, that's not dangerous.' So I said to him, 'You're the lover boy who writes love letters [so you give me a name].' So he says, 'From now on, you're Sim Dope.'”
The popular rapper was shot dead on Florida Road, Durban, on February 10. He was laid to rest on Saturday at a private ceremony.
WATCH | Sim Dope revealed at AKA’s memorial: How they met and the origin of his nickname
AKA's hit song Levels contains the term “Sim Dope”.
“So if I die, I pray to God he bring me back as Sim Dope,” goes the song.
On Friday evening last week, Kiernan “AKA” Forbes' fans and family met the real Sim Dope when he gave a speech at the slain rapper's memorial in Sandton.
His real name is Simphiwe Gumede and he is the son of Robert Gumede, one of the richest men in South Africa.
Simphiwe, who attended St John's College with Forbes in the early 2000s, explained how his nickname came about.
WATCH | 'It's almost as if he knew he was leaving us' — Mzansi reacts to AKA's 'Mass Country' trailer
“He made it so cool just to be me,” began Gumede.
“Let me tell you how this 'Sim Dope' name came to be. So we get to grade 10 and I make the first team in rugby and it's like a big thing for everyone ... I was sitting there and he says to me, 'Sim, now you're a boet, bru, like your boet at school.'
“So we laughed and he said, 'But you can't go on Saturday and just be Simphiwe. I mean, that's not dangerous.' So I said to him, 'You're the lover boy who writes love letters [so you give me a name].' So he says, 'From now on, you're Sim Dope.'”
The popular rapper was shot dead on Florida Road, Durban, on February 10. He was laid to rest on Saturday at a private ceremony.
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