South African rapper AKA has disclosed that becoming a father has had “a profound effect” on him and his career.

The ‘Run Jozi’ rapper became a father on July 8 last year when then girlfriend DJ Zinhle gave birth to their daughter Kairo Owethu Forbes.

“I think me becoming a father has definitely had a profound effect on me, my music and just my head space,” He told Live FM’s Jay Foley and Vanessa Gyan.

“When you have a kid… it’s funny how a young child can teach you so much about yourself that you didn’t even know about yourself.”

Kairo is an Arabic name, and a variant of Cairo meaning ‘Victorious One’. Her second name means ‘Ours’ in Zulu – she is ‘Our Victorious One’ to her parents.

AKA born Kiernan Jordan Forbes also spoke about whether awards validate his art or not.

“I feel that it’s good to get recognition from my peers, and good to get recognition from BET, and the industry, artistes and… that stuff is all good but I don’t think awards define who you are. It’s about really connecting with people. Making people happy, making them dance, making them smile, making them think that’s what we do. It’s about the music but these things are just like nice bonuses… to win awards it’s really cool.”