Riku Latti

Riku Latti

Riku Lätti is a South African singer, songwriter and writer. After Riku matriculated in 1991 at Hoërskool Florida, Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, he studied philosophy at University of the Witwatersrand where he finished his honours degree. He changed his name to Victor S. Wolf and claimed that Riku Latti is "dead". Since then he composed the complete film score for Jans Rautenbach's film "Abraham" on which he was credited as Riku Lätti, thereby being effectively resurrected. In South Africa Riku collaborated with superstars such as Koos Kombuis, Laurika Rauch, Frazer Barry, Churchil Naudé, David Kramer, Stef Bos, Paul Riekert among others. His songs have been performed and recorded by people like Karla du Plessis, Laurika Rauch, Bobby van Jaarsveld, the all-girl punk band The Pheobes and the jazz outfit Tsunami and Izak Davel. In 2005, he broke onto the international music scene when he completed his first tour in Belgium and the Netherlands. In 2006 during a follow-up tour through Europe he performed with Stef Bos. On October 1, 2007, Lätti releases his first album in the Benelux (Akoesties). For this album he re-recorded some of his best songs in a stripped-down version, using only his voice and a piano or a guitar. Riku together with Jahn Beukes wrote the music for the award-winning SABC television series Hopeville. Hopeville won the prestigious Rose d'Or in Switzerland for best international TV series. It was also nominated for an Emmy Award. Other scores include the soundtrack for KykNet series Wie lê waar and the drama series Vlug na Egipte. He won a South African Film and Television Award (SAFTA) for his sound design and film score for the feature film Die Wonderlike Avonture van Hanna Hoekom. Other awards Riku has won include 2 GMT (Geraas Musiektoekennings). (The first for best Alternative Artist for his album Pleister vir my Nerwe. The second for best male vocalist for his album Aan't sterre tel.) And a Vonk Music award for his album Die President se keuse. His greatest work collaborative album Radio Lava with Jahn Beukes and Arnaud van Vliet featuring original work He accused the South African media of not having transformed after the end of Apartheid. He is also the chief in charge of zimdollar, an Afrikaans cult newspaper. He is the founding father of Die Wasgoedlyn.

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