Lehlogonolo Ronald Mataboge (born March 27, 1997), known professionally as A-Reece, is a South African rapper, songwriter and record producer. He was raised in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

. A-Reece was under

Ambitiouz Entertainment Ambitiouz Entertainment is a South African independent record label owned and founded by Kgosi Mahumapelo. The label was founded in April 2015 and houses notable acts including, G-Star Da Hustler, Lucky Man, MeekTrapBorn, Kid Tini and Kiddest Gol ...

in 2015, but with no paper work signed yet . He gained popularity in 2015 following the release of his single, "Couldn't", which featured the rapper

Emtee Mthembeni Ndevu, better known by his stage name Emtee (stylized as eMTee) is a South African rapper. He was born in Matatiele and grew up in Rockville, Soweto, where he was involved in talent shows. His career began at the age of 17 and his deb ...

. After disputes with management of the label, he left to become an independent artist late 2016. A-Reece released his debut studio album, ''

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'' (2016) which produced the singles, "Couldn't" and "Mgani". In 2017, A-Reece released his second album ''From Me to You & Only You.'' 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 October that year he released his 5th Extended Play, ''And I'm Only 21''. In 2019, he released ''Reece Effect''. In 2021, A-Reece signed a distribution deal with

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

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 ''

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'', ''Clash'' and ''

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'' magazines.

Early life and career

Lehlogonolo Mataboge was born on the 27th of March 1997 and came from Danville,

, 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. In 2014, A-Reece released an EP titled ''Browniez EP''. In 2015, A-Reece signed to

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 ''

''. 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. Following a financial squabble with Ambitiouz Entertainment, he formed The Wrecking Crew (TWC) in 2017 with Mashbeatz. The Wrecking Crew consisted of MashBeatz, Ex Global, Wordz and other former members, Flvme, Ecco and Mellow. He released a single “Meanwhile in Honeydew” in 2017. On the 21st of October , he released his second album ''From Me to You & Only You'' which included Feelings featuring Flvme. In 2018, he released a collaborative album with Ecco and Wordz titled ''Long Lost Letters (L3)'', the lead single was ''Welcome To My Life''. Mataboge then released 2 Extended Plays, ''Gwan Big Up Urself 2'' in March and in October he released his 5th EP, ''And I'm Only 21.'' In late 2018 Flvme, Ecco and Mellow left The Wrecking Crew due to financial disputes. In 2019, A-Reece released a single, ''Carele$$,'' to address his squabble with Flvme. He then released his second collaborative album with MashBeatz titled ''Reece Effect.'' The Wrecking Crew changed names to Rvbberband Records. In 2020, A-Reece had a fallout with Mashbeatz and this led to him collaborating with his older brother Jay Jody. He also released a number of singles, including $elfish

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which were leading to his highly anticipated mixtape ''Today’s Tragedy, Tomorrow’s Memory.'' In 2021, he released his second mixtape ''Today's Tragedy, Tomorrow's Memory'' containing 13 tracks. He also released his third collaborative album, ''heaveN caN waiT: thE narroW dooR, vol.1,'' with Jay Jody. The album included “the confrontation” which is a song that addresses his beef with his former producer MashBeatz.

Ambitiouz Entertainment controversy

went under much scrutiny after artists

Fifi Cooper Refilwe Boingotlo Moeketsi (born 24 October 1991), known professionally as Fifi Cooper is a South African recording artist. Fifi Cooper started her music career as an R&B singer before her musical versatility saw her release her breakthrough r ...

, B3nchMarQ, A-Reece and Flvme left the label in a very public and ugly fight. 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. 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.

Discography

Studio albums

Mixtape

Collaborative albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1997 births Living people South African rappers South African record producers