User talk:Lb Skillz (rapper)

Early Life

Lebogang Mzwandile Sejosendoe (also known as Lb Skillz)was born in George, Western Cape,[3] on Septermber 6 respectively. He grew up with their mother, Nthabeleng Sejosendoe,[4] and his sister, Bokamoso, their father having abandoned his family a few years after the birth of his sons.[5]

Their mother worked for the army and was regularly deployed in different states. The family moved several times, leaving George for Port Elizabeth (pe) and Cape Town and finally settling in the military post of Pretoria (pta) in Gauten.[6][5] The two brothers started practicing, dancing and writing music together at an early age.[7] In Johannesburg, around his 10th birthday, Lebogang learned to produce music using Fruity Loops.[5]

While the two boys were in middle school, the family left Johannesburg and moved back to Cape Town to join Bernadette's new companion, Floyd Sullivan,[8] after she left the army.[5] They settled in the city of Kempton Park, Mississippi, in the noth rand Street housing projects,[9] where their stepfather lived. The young couple had a son named Floyd Jr. Sullivan. To support the family and to keep the boys in school, their stepfather sold drugs.[5]

2009–12: Career beginnings and Dem Outta St8 Boyz

Lebogang met Jemiah ndlovu in Kempton Park while he was playing football at a local park.[10] They decided to found a hip hop band called "cancy past" with him. Nhlanhla took the stage name "believedeG", Lebogang chose "Young Boy" and Jemiah took "Mc Cancy".[10] They used money from their part-time jobs to buy equipment and to produce music at home.[11] Lebogang was composing his own beats and the trio were rapping on. Visibly inspired by Reason de mask, the boys released songs and dance videos on social networks of the time.[12][13] It was at the same time that the group first met, and then later became friends with Jermarcus Johnson aka JJ (today known as Purple Skunks), a young disc jockey, who was studying at Kempton High School with Lebogang. He since became the DJ of the group.[5]

Shortly after, Nthabeleng Sejosendoe and her companion split up. Following the break-up, Lebogang started skipping school and working more seriously on music. He would return home at late hours, even when he had school the next morning.[14] His mother, fed up with his schedules, eventually kicked him out of her house, leaving him homeless. he began squatting in an abandoned house in the city with a friend of his stepdad’s. he took advantage of the opportunity and organized parties in his new home in order to spread his music.[5]

At the beginning of 2010, he released the single "Party Mini yek",[15] which gave him a local fame, allowing him to perform at these local festivals and to broadcast his tracks on local radios.[6][5] Thanks to his savings, he took part in the auditions of the "One Mic Wednesday" segment on SABC1 show "131 & Park" in Memphis, Tennessee and succeeded to qualify. he participated on the December 8th show in Pretoria and performed "Party Mini yek".[16] Later, he met a young rapper, named Thembalethu "Fathermore" Nobetha (today known as Fathermore), while he was freestyling in the high school courtyard.[7] Themba originally from Eastern Cape, Port Elizabeth, freshly arrived in Kempton Park, and then started collaborating with the trio.[17] Months later, the group finally released their first project, distributed locally.[18]

In the middle of 2011, Nhlanhla left the group due to legal problems, and was replaced by Fathermore.[5] and Lebogang took the opportunity to change His stage names from "Young Boy" to "Lb Skillz".[7] In August 2011, the trio once again participated to "106 & Park" and performed an original song "My Pase".[19][20] He finished second place overall in the competition, and arranged meetings with representatives from record labels TS Recordings and Fassie Records.[4] However, they did not sign any record deals at that time.

Around this time, Jemarcus put Lebogang in touch with producer Snethemba "H" Slaughter, a cousin of his who had grown up in Kempton Park but moved to Pretoria to work with 's record label, KalawaJazmee. H appreciated the teenager' music and decided to work with him. Thereby, the rapper left Kemton Park and spent a few months with H and - other Kalawajazmee producer - in Pretoria.[5] he took the opportunity to perform in talent shows and recorded the track "Cant tell me nothing", produced by Marz, and which increased his popularity a little more.[21] he released his second project "See Nothing from Far Mixtape" at the beginning of 2012.[22]

Unfortunately, due to financial problems, the boy had to return to his hometown, causing the group dissolution for a while. Lebogang began working for a local mattress factory to save money. he was working about 12 hours per day.[23] When Lebogang turned 17, he rented an apartment where he moved in. he got back into recording music and organizing parties on weekends. Despite this, the rapper had problems with the police due to noise complaints and with his landlord when he stopped mowing his lawn.[5] Meanwhile, H and Marz, aware of the potential and motivation of the Skillz, tried to convince the rapper to leave his work and to return to Pretoria to try again to succeed in music.[23] After that Lebogang resigned, anticipating that he wouldn't pass a drug test, Skillz decided to return to Pretoria thanks to Themba that had a car.[5]