Mellow & Sleazy Share How Barcadi Influenced Them. Mellow and Sleazy have pushed against all odds to become SA’s most coveted amapiano duos, having been raised in rough neighborhoods rife with crime, drugs and violence. Real names Phemelo Sefanyetse and Olebogeng Kwanaite, the stars are from Soshanguve and Ga-Rankuwa, in Tshwane, respectively.
The duo stepped into the music industry at the beginning of the pandemic and they have since rose to superstardom. It’s all thanks to their collaborations with DJ Maphorisa, Felo Le Tee, Focalistic and Young Stunna. Their hits include Nkao Tempela, Salary Salary and Chipi ke Chipi. While the duo make amapiano songs, they’ve admitted that Barcadi has had a huge influence on them.
“I started listening to Bacardi when I was living in Soshanguve around when I was 13-years-old. Right in front of my house, there was a shebeen that always used to play Bacardi. I also had a neighbour that would play it really loudly, so that’s the first time I heard it. He used to play it from when he woke up until late, so it was always playing in the background,” Sleazy told Mix Magazine.
Mellow: It’s really the signature sound of Pretoria, so it’s the same for me, it was always playing around us at home, or when we’d go out, in the shops around etc… Some of our favourite Bacardi artists are Dadaman and Vusi Ma R5. Rekere is another name for Bacardi. There’s Bacardi, Kota, Rekere… We’re really just pushing ‘piano and Bacardi, and our sound stems from Pretoria which is our hometown, you know? We make and create music that speaks to the people back home, but also taking the global influences of music and putting it into our production and collaborations.
