Here`s How Mellow and Sleazy Became Successful Musicians

By: Prince Mokwena

28 July 2022

Image Source: Mellow 012 Instagram account

Caption: Mellow and Sleazy in Soshanguve.

Mellow whose real name is Phemelo Sefanyetso and Sleazy whose real name is Olebogeng Kwanaite, have worked hard to earn their spot amongst the best amapiano artists in South Africa. This duo has even collaborated with the likes of Focalistic, Young Stunna, Felo Le Tee, DJ Maphorisa and other prominent amapiano stars.

Mellow (21) was born on the 20 April 2001 and he comes from Pretoria Ga-Rankuwa Zone 8. In the interview, he said growing up, he liked music but he did not know how to make it. This was until he was taught how to make music by Sleazy. “I partied a lot when I was younger, to a point where I would sometimes sneak out from home to go partying.” Says Mellow in the interview. Mellow was busy studying Architecture in Tertiary doing his second year. He later dropped out to pursue his passion for music.

Sleazy (21) was born on the 11 May 2001. He comes from Pretoria Soshanguve Block WW. He was studying IT in tertiary because he studied CAT in high school. He began making music from a very young age, he started when he was still doing grade 7 in primary school. Then he later met Mellow in tertiary when they were both doing their second year in their studies. They lived in the same student accommodation in Midrand and met through Sleazy`s friend called “Pangas”, whom was already friends with Mellow. In the early stage of their friendship Sleazy said that they would only smoke Marijuana, and hardly talked. Until Mellow was keen to learn how to make music from Sleazy. They then started making music together from there.

In the interview sleazy said “When lockdown started, since we were back home, we used to communicate every day. I used to make beats at home and he would make his own also. The whole point of this was to help each other.” They both agreed to make a social media account on Instagram named “Mellow and Sleazy 012” and post their music content there.

The Duo’s talent was later spotted by DJ Maphorisa and Tyler ICU on their Instagram page. Who later connected them with other amapiano artists like Young Stunna, Pabi Cooper, Reece Madlisa, Zuma, Sha Sha, Focalistic etc. It all started when Tyler ICU sent Mellow a message on Instagram, Mellow and Sleazy sent Tyler ICU their music samples, then Tyler ICU also sent his samples. DJ Maphorisa also posted a short clip of Mellow and Sleazy`s music on twitter, in that post he said ‘Watch out for these boys Mellow and Sleazy.’ He tagged other big artists like Cassper Nyovest, Focalistic, etc.

Apart from music, the duo does get to blow off some steam with fun activities. Sleazy says “If we`re not working, we do get to do fun things like Go-Karting, paintballing and stuff.”

Image Source: Fakaza2022.com

Caption: Mellow and Sleazy with Young Stunna.

After they released a song called “Bopha” featuring DJ Maphorisa, Mellow and Sleazy gained more prominence, then their life changed for the better from there. The Duo took DJ Maphorisa`s advice of opening a business. They opened a record label called “Mellow and Sleazy Records”. Soon after, they signed a joint venture deal with Sony Music according to Sleazy.

Like any other artist, they did come across some challenges in their music career. Sleazy said that “There was a time when they stole our beat and made it a song. I woke up one day at 13:00, when I went on to Instagram, that song was trending. We did not confront that person because we were not famous by then, so we put in double the work from then. I don`t think if that did not happen, we would not be working as hard as we do now.”

Despite this challenge, the duo says that they are open to working with anyone as long as you have talent. All you have to do is send your music samples directly to their Instagram account “Mellow and Sleazy 012” or their separate accounts “Mellow 012” and “Sleazy 012”. The duo further went on to say that “We always go through our DMs, if you send something and we don`t reply that means we`re not impressed. That however should not stop you from sending more samples of you work. If we do like your work, we are willing to work with you free of charge.”

Mellow and Sleazy are currently working on a new sound wave called “Ancestral Piano”, which is a mixture of amapiano and music from Angola, and Bacardi. Their fans can expect this to drop as soon as the duo is done working on it. For those who can`t wait to hear snippets of this new wave, can check out Mellow and Sleazy performing live on the Balcony Mix.

It looks like the future looks bright for these two young, and talented Amapiano artists. As they have quickly learned the ropes of the music industry, and received guidance from an experienced and talented amapiano producer DJ Maphorisa, and Oskido, focalistic and other artists, they will definitely be going far in their music career.