Award-winning rapper AKA is never one to downplay his contributions to the industry. He recently took to Twitter to speak about how his Cruz Watermelon deal opened up the entire industry.
In 2018, Supa Mega signed an exclusive partnership with Cruz Vodka to create Cruz Watermelon vodka.
Under the partnership agreement, AKA receives a share in the vodka’s profit split per bottle sold throughout Africa - a game changer in the South African spirit beverage industry.
"90% of the deals that exist today are because of that collaboration," he added on his Twitter post.
Cruz Watermelon opened up the entire industry. 90% of the deals that exist today are because of that collaboration.
— AKA (@akaworldwide) June 20, 2022
His Reebok deal may have not been his finest business moment but he has had a successful run with Cruz.
There have been numerous celebrity and alcohol collaborations following AKA’s collaboration with Cruz Vodka.
DJ Zinhle made boss moves in the alcohol industry by becoming the CEO of a French bubbly brand, Boulevard Nectar Rosè, in 2020.
The award-winning Forbes Africa entertainer of the year and businesswoman. acquired equity in the sparkling wine beverage becoming the first local artist to do so with an international brand.
AKA’s tweet came after he announced that he and Cruz Vodka were parting ways as his business was evolving and he was gearing up to release a spirit under his own name.
“I’ve taken the decision to evolve my business and will be launching my own spirit brand in the near future,” he said on social media.
The decision to remove his name from all Cruz vodka bottles was revealed in a lengthy statement.
This came after AKA revealed his ambition to create his own spirit brand with the Cruz management team.
In May, he took to his social media platforms and shared a glimpse of the alcoholic beverage he was working on.