One of the first accomplishments my sister got was buying her first car, a Range Rover in a unique chocolate tone. The tradition has it that the first song that plays when you first go home with your new baby becomes the soundtrack for the momentous achievement. The first song that played when she drove out was AKA’s Congratulate Me.

My sister is not the only person to have a sentimental attachment to AKA. His career, one where his music can quite literally be played in important spaces like weddings and birthdays, becomes momentous in our pop cultural history. His music has been able to carry a sentimentality that has tattooed him onto the memories of many, so when the call came that it was time to mute AKA because of the case between him and his late fiancée, Nelli Tembe, I must admit I was surprised...