Kid X Unpacks Riky Rick “Beef”

Kid X Unpacks Riky Rick “Beef” South African hip-hop veteran Kid X has offered insight into one of the more intriguing moments surrounding Riky Rick’s celebrated “Amantombazane” remix verse, explaining why the late rapper felt the need to make it clear there was no beef between them.

During an interview with SA Hip Hop Mag, Kid X was asked about Riky Rick’s closing line on his verse on the remix, where the rapper famously referenced him with the line, “Ngabiz’u X to show him there’s no beef.”

According to Kid X, the perceived tension was largely a product of the rap politics surrounding the artists at the time rather than a personal falling-out.

Kid X traced the situation back to 2012 and AKA’s “Skimming Lames,” which featured both himself and Zingah over the Rick Ross “Stay Schemin’” beat. At the time, AKA was involved in a broader lyrical conflict with the other side of the hip-hop divide, and Kid X believes his and Zingah’s presence on the record may have made it appear as though they had formally aligned themselves with a particular camp.

“So around that time, I think I was closely linked to, if you remember, 2012, there was an AKA record, it called ‘Skimming Lames,’ where he featured myself and Zingah,” Kid X explained.

He recalled that the song carried a number of pointed messages connected to the tensions involving AKA and L-Tido, creating an atmosphere where artists featured on the record could easily be perceived as taking sides.

The situation seemingly escalated when L-Tido released a song that featured Riky Rick contributing ad-libs at the end. Kid X recalled that Riky appeared to address the perceived alignment, suggesting that he and Zingah had chosen a side.

However, Kid X stressed that neither he nor Zingah responded to the exchange.

“We didn’t even reply to that,” he said.

For Kid X, there was therefore never an actual personal dispute with Riky Rick. Instead, he believes the circumstances may have created enough uncertainty for Riky to feel that the air needed to be cleared.

“I think based off that exchange, there was maybe something in the air that he, from his side, could have felt like, okay, maybe I need to clear the air with the bros,” Kid X said.

That understanding gives added context to Riky’s decision to reference Kid X directly on the “Amantombazane” remix. Rather than being the conclusion of a heated feud, the moment appears to have been Riky’s way of publicly putting any perceived tension to rest.

Kid X said that when Riky eventually reached out about collaborating, he did not approach the call with any sense of hostility. “From my side, the energy was fine,” he said. “I never felt like, yo, there’s anything beefworthy at the time.”

He also explained that he was still relatively new to the South African hip-hop space and was intentional about building his career without getting drawn into conflicts that lacked a genuine foundation.

“The way I wanted to kind of move in the space was from a very sincere, clean place without engaging in things that certainly didn’t have real foundation in terms of there being a problem,” Kid X explained.

Looking back, Kid X sees the situation as an example of how quickly affiliations and rap politics could create perceptions of conflict, even when the artists themselves had no genuine issue.

For Riky Rick, the “Amantombazane” remix ultimately became an opportunity to remove any doubt. For Kid X, there simply was never a beef to begin with.