Rapper AKA during his sit-down interview with Thembekile Mrototo. Image: YouTube screenshot from BarLeader TV
Expert on AKA ‘tell all’: Body language tells a different story
Body language expert Courtney Kleu said AKA’s emotions ‘didn’t quite fit’ with what he had to say during the ‘tell-all’ interview.
Rapper AKA during his sit-down interview with Thembekile Mrototo. Image: YouTube screenshot from BarLeader TV
The recent “tell-all” interview with rapper AKA has been somewhat of an attention-grabber over the last week. In an exclusive interview with broadcaster Thembekile Mrototo, he faced the music, so-to-speak, and recounted the events leading up to the tragic death of his fiancé Anele “Nellie” Thembe. Upping the ante in a big way, a body language expert has now analysed AKA’s emotions during the interview.
Thembe was killed after she fell from the 10th floor of the Pepper Club Hotel in the Cape Town CBD on Sunday 11 April.
BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT ANALYSES AKA DURING ‘TELL-ALL’ INTERVIEW
In an episode of Podcast and Chill, host MacG spoke to body language expert Courtney Kleu and what she had to say would be very interesting to anyone following the story of AKA and the late Anele Thembe.
While he appeared to be exhausted, drained and sad to the ordinary eye, Kleu went beyond that and took the time to closely analyse his body language, trying to derive a particular meaning behind it.
Kleu started off by saying that human beings lie, on average, 200 times a day. She added that there were a few interesting moments throughout the interview that she picked up on. She said she found moments of sincerity and moments where she couldn’t find 100% sincerity.
Kleu said she was on the lookout for the seven universal emotions, namely; happiness, sadness, anger, contempt, disgust, surprise and neutrality.
Out of the seven, Kleu said she was specifically looking out for sadness, contempt and disgust. During the interview, around six minutes into it, AKA said: “we said some mean things to each other”. Kleu said that while saying it, he was visibly angry.
“Whether it’s his own anger from what he said or what Anele said, you can still see it. [But] we’re okay with that”, she said.
“And then he said she threatened to kill herself which shows contempt….interesting. Why is he showing contempt there? Just something to consider.
When AKA said; “I looked around the room and she wasn’t there,” Kleu said that was the first time she saw genuine sadness. When he said he wasn’t sure about whether it happened when he was on the phone or in the bathroom, Kleu said she felt he was being genuine or at least neutral.
‘SHE WAS MY EVERYTHING’ – EXPERT PICKS UP ON DISGUST
Kleu said that when AKA said Anele was “his everything”, she picked up on disgust in his body language or micro-expressions.
“It’s a really strange time to be showing that,” she said.
AKA went on to say that that is why he’s so heartbroken and shattered. Kleu said thinking about a loved one passing away should bring about genuine sadness and grief on his face but at this time, there was nothing at all, a “completely neutral facial expression”.
Kleu said he may have been on medication for depression which could explain his neutral or subdued state, however, she said that if it were a normal person who is not on medication, it would be very interesting.
When asked how she would describe AKA’s body language in a nutshell, Kleu said there were a lot of interesting points in the interview that could warrant further discussions.
“Was it him who caused it or him who did it? I can’t say from a small snippet, it would require a lot more but it’s certainly interesting and moments where I saw certain emotions, they didn’t quite fit with what was being said. So definitely interesting and food for thought,” she said.
