Lehlogonolo Ronald Mataboge (born 1997), known professionally as A-Reece, is a South African rapper, songwriter and record producer. He was raised in Pretoria, Gauteng. A-Reece is considered to be one of the most successful & most lyrical rappers in Africa.
A-Reece | |
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Birth name | Lehlogonolo Ronald Mataboge |
Also known as |
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Born | 1997 (age 24–25) North West, South Africa |
Genres | Hip Hop Rap |
Occupation(s) |
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Years active | 2013–present |
Labels |
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Website | babyboy1606 |
A-Reece was under Ambitiouz Entertainment in 2015, but with no paper work signed yet . After disputes with management, he left to become an independent artist. He gained popularity in 2015 following the release of his single, "Couldn't", which featured the rapper Emtee.[1]
A-Reece released his debut studio album, Paradise (2016), which produced the singles, "Couldn't" and "Mgani".[2] In 2017, A-Reece released his second album From Me to You & Only You, He then released music video of Feelings which features Flvme his former colleague. In 2018 he released a collaborative album with Ecco and Wordz titled "Long Lost Letters" (L3), the lead single was "Welcome To My Life". In 2019, he released Reece Effect.[3] He also released several EPs notably being Gwan Big Up Urself, Cutaways EP And I'm Only 21. In 2021 he released his mix tape titled "Today'sTragedy Tomorrow's Memory" the mixtape. He then later that year released an album with his brother Jay Jody as Blue Tape titled "heaveN caN waiT:thE narroW dooR vol1". And in the year 2022 the South African rapper, songwriter and record producer said he could drop any day of the week and will be coming back with something impact full on October 21; in one of his lyrics from "Couldn't Have Said better part 3"[citation needed] in collaboration with Black Metaphor.
Following a financial squabble with Ambitiouz Entertainment, The Wrecking Crew (TWC) was formed with Mashbeatz. The Wrecking Crew consisted of MashBeatz, Ex Global, Wordz and other former members, Flvme, Ecco and Mellow. The Wrecking Crew changed names to Rubberband Records after the departure of Flvme, Ecco and Mellow.[4][5]
In 2021, A-Reece signed a distribution deal with Apple Music owned A&R company Platoon, which specializes in packaging emerging artists before they get a major-label contract, and his mixtape Today's Tragedy, Tomorrow's Memory: the mixtape was publicised on Forbes, Clash and Flaunt magazines.[6]
Lehlogonolo Mataboge was born in 1997 and came from Pretoria, Gauteng. He started writing music in primary school following the footsteps of his older brother Phologo Jody Mataboge, known as Jay Jody from the hip hop duo B3nchMarQ. He got his stage name "A-Reece" from his star sign Aries.[7]
In 2015, A-Reece signed to Ambitiouz Entertainment and released his first single "Couldn't" under the label, featuring Emtee. He released Cutaways, an EP, on 29 September 2016, which consists of songs that did not make the cut for his debut album Paradise.[8] His debut album was later released on October 21, 2016, and topped the No.1 spot on iTunes just under 24 hours after its release.[9] He went on to release his second studio album From Me To You And Only You to celebrate the anniversary of his debut album. In 2019 he released a soundtrack with Mashbeatz titled Reece Effect.
In 2021, he released his second mixtape Today's Tragedy, Tomorrow's Memory containing 13 tracks.[10]
Ambitiouz Entertainment went under much scrutiny after artists Fifi Cooper, B3nchMarQ, A-Reece and Flvme left the label in a very public and ugly fight.[11][12] Artists claimed that they decided to part ways with the record label because of financial disagreements. Fifi Cooper went on to say that she had been signed for over two years to the label yet had not received a single cent from her performances, as well as royalties.[13][14] The record label also went on to remove all of A-Reece's music videos from their YouTube channel and his Facebook page was also deleted. A-Reece Released "Loyal" where he addressed his reason for leaving Ambitious Entertainment. In the song A-Reece slammed his former colleague Emtee for staying in the record label. 7 months later on his album Manando, Emtee responded with a diss track called "Crown" calling A-Reece whack and emotional on songs.[15]
Album title | Album details |
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Paradise[16] |
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From Me to You And Only You[17] |
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Title | Mixtape details |
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Forever King |
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Today's Tragedy, Tomorrow's Memory: The Mixtape |
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Album title | Album details |
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L3 (Long Lost Letters) (with Ecco & Wordz) |
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Reece Effect (with Mashbeatz) |
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heaveN caN waiT(thE narroW dooR vol. 1) (with Jay Jody) |
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Extended play title | Extended play details |
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BROWNIEZ |
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1997/03/27 [The Best Things in Life are Free] |
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CUTaways |
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Gwan Big Up Urself 2 (You Should've Taken Me Seriously) |
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And I'm only 21 |
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The Burning Tree |
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DEADLINES: FREE P2 |
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Title | Year | Album |
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"Come Up" | 2014 | Non-album singles |
"Couldn't "
(featuring Emtee) |
2015 | Paradise |
"Mgani" | ||
"?" | 2017 | Non-album singles |
"Sloppy" | ||
"Meanwhile In Honeydew | ||
"FourTwenty 4:20"
(featuring Flame, Ecco and Ex-Global) | ||
"Feelings"
(featuring Flame) |
From Me To You And Only You | |
"Kim Kardashian"
(featuring Ex-Global and Wordz) |
2018 | Non-album singles |
"Amber Rose" | ||
"Welcome 2 My Life"
(with Ecco and Wordz) |
2019 | Long Lost Letters (L3) |
"A Message From Reece" | Non-album singles | |
"Blood In Blood Out" | ||
"Carele$$" | ||
"In Hi$ Image [Exp.1]" | 2020 | The Exp$ |
"$elfish [Exp.2]" | ||
"Formula [Exp.3]" | ||
"John Doe [Last Exp.] | ||
"$trictly for my Bitch" | 2021 | Non-album singles |
"Re$idual Self-Image"
(featuring Ayanda Jiya) |
Today's Tragedy, Tomorrow's Memory: The Mixtape | |
"The 5 Year Plan"
(featuring Wordz) | ||
"Morning Peace"
(featuring Jay Jody) | ||
tufF LucK | heaveN caN waiT(thE narroW dooR vol. 1) (with Jay Jody) | |
"ridiculou$"
(with Jay Jody) | ||
"Couldn't have said it better part 3" | 2022 | |
"Sneaky" (Blxckie featuring. A-Reece) |
Award | Year | Recipient(s) and nominee(s) | Category | Results | Ref. | |
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South African Hip Hop Awards | 2016 | Himself | Lyricist of the year | Won | [18][19] | |
"Couldn't" (featuring Emtee) | Best video | Nominated | ||||
"Ameni" (with Miss Pru, Fifi Cooper, Emtee, B3nchmarq, Saudi and Sjava) | Won | |||||
Song of the year | Nominated | |||||
Best Collabo | Won | |||||
2021 | Himself | Lyricist of the year | Won | [20][21] | ||
Today's Tragedy, Tomorrow's Memory: The Mixtape | Mixtape of the year | Won | ||||
Himself | Artist of the decade | Nominated | ||||
"The 5 Year Plan" (feat. Wordz) Directed by (SXMZX for Poison Cure Productions) | Best video | Nominated | ||||
"Hustlers Prayer" (with 25K) Directed by (Nate Thomas for Uprooted Media) | Nominated | |||||
Best Collaboration | Nominated | |||||
MTV Africa Music Awards | 2021 | Himself | Best Fanbase | Pending | [22][23] | |
South African Music Awards | 2022 | Himself | Artist of the year |
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South African Music Awards | 2022 | Himself | Best HipHop Album |
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Authority control ![]() |
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