PRO MAHLALELA ALSO KNOWN AS THREAT, BIRTH NAME LEBOGANG MOLOTO(BORN 08 NOVEMBER 1998), IS A SOUTH AFRICAN RECORDING/PERFORMING HIP HOP MUSICIAN LOCATED IN JOHANNESBURG ,GAUTENG.
HE IS MOST WELL KNOWN FOR HIS UNIQUE STYLE OF FLOWING AND WORDSMITHING ABILITIES, AND HIS HEARTFELT MUSICAL PERFORMANCES. HE HAS SINCE RELEASED 1 SOLO PROJECT/EP, 1 WITH HIS LOCALLY POPULAR GROUP BY THE NAME “DREAMKIIIDZ” NOW “GVNG GVNG”, AND HAS ALSO BEEN FEATURED ON MULTIPLE PROJECTS SUCH AS “D.I.L.L.I.C” BY A FELLOW GROUPMATE JOHN NA$H, & CALVIN ABSTRXCT’S “1509’ JUST TO MENTION A FEW.
EARLY LIFE & CAREER*
LEBOGANG MOLOTO, ORIGINALLY FROM VOSLOORUS, IN THE EAST OF EKURHULENI, GAUTENG. HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN FASCINATED BY HIP HOP MUSIC GROWING UP, AFTER HE HAD BEEN SELECTED TO PERFORM POPPING & LOCKING IN GRADE R, AS PART OF THE CEREMONY. HE LATER GREW INTO THE HIP HOP SCENE AS HE GOT MORE AND MORE EXPOSED TO “KRUMP DANCING” IN WHICH HE COMPETED IN A FEW STREET BATTLES AND ON STAGE BATTLES. HE WAS LATER INTRODUCED TO UNDERGROUND RAP MUSIC BY HIS BROTHER THROUGH A PHONE HE WAS GIFTED WHICH HAD THE LIKES OF ”IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE AND CAN-I-BUS”, BOTH THEIR MUSIC INSPIRED HIM TO START WRITING MUSIC OF HIS OWN.
BEFORE HE WENT BY HIS CURRENT MONIKER “PRO MAHLALELA”, HE WAS 1ST KNOWN AS THE “IMMORTAL ASSASSIN” WHICH WAS INSPIRED BY BOTH HE’S KRUMP ORIGINS AND THE MUSIC HE HAD BEEN EXPOSED TO AT THE TIME, AS HE BECAME MORE ACTIVE ON LOCAL FREESTYLE CIPHERS & STREET BATTLES, HE THEN CHANGED HIS NAME TO “THREAT” WHICH CAME THROUGH HIS INTIMIDATING CHARACTER AND THE AURA HE POSSESSED IN THESE VERY STREET BATTLES. IN THE YEAR 2019 HE THEN RELEASED HE’S 1ST A PROJECT TITLED “NO SCHOOL” UNDER THE NAME, DUE TO HIM USING “MAHLALELA” AS A TAG, MORE PEOPLE STARTED TO ASSUME HE HAD CHANGED HIS NAME TO “MAHLALELA” AND AS THE EP GREW IN STREAMS, HE LATER DECIDED TO CHANGE HIS NAME TO “PRO MAHLALELA”.
IN THE YEAR 2015, LEBOGANG, AND PEERS FORMED A GROUP OF TALENTED INDIVIDUALS WHICH CALLED THEMSELVES “THE DARK SIDE”, CONSISTING OF HIMSELF, TONY BRAVO(HARMONIC REPUBLIC), KHESTRO & ISARUS. 2 OTHER MEMBERS, CARLOS MALAZA & LIQUID SAWD LATER JOINED THE GROUP AS IT GAINED POPULARITY AND STARTED TO PERFORM IN MULTIPLE LOCAL EVENTS. IT WASN’T UNTIL LATER THAT YEAR WHEN MEMBERS OF THE GROUP STOPPED MAKING MUSIC FOR PERSONAL REASONS, HE WENT INTO A DEEP DEPRESSION OF DEMOTIVATION
IN THE 2016, HE STARTED TO BECOME MORE AWARE OF HIS ABILITIES, AS FORMER SCHOOLMATE “FLVME” STARTED TO GAIN POPULARITY. HE WAS MOTIVATED, SO HE STARTED TO RECORD SONGS, MOST OF WHICH WERE NOT RELEASED INTO PUBLIC PLATFORMS, DESPITE RECEIVING GOOD FEEDBACK FROM PEERS.
HE STARTED TO MOVE FURTHER FROM THE ART IN THE YEAR 2017-2018 AS HE COMPLETED HE WAS NEARING THE END OF HIS HIGH SCHOOL LIFE, ALTHOUGH HE HAD NOT COMPLETELY STOPPED WRITING MUSIC, HE HAD NOT RECORDED FOR THAT PERIOD. IT WASN’T UNTIL JANUARY 2019, WHEN JOHN NA$H FORMED A GROUP CALLED “DREAM KIIDZ”, THE GROUP DROPPED THEIR DEBUT PROJECT/EP TITLED “INTRO”, A MONTH AFTER THEIR DEBUT, A PROMO VIDEO FOR WHATCHU WANT WAS RELEASED DURING MARCH 2019.
IN THE MIDDLE OF 2019, HE WENT ON TO RELEASE HIS SOLO DEBUT PROJECT, A MONTH LATER, HE DROPPED HE’S DEBUT MUSIC VIDEO TITLED “ALREADY” WHICH FEATURED JOHN NA$H AND WAS SHOT, DIRECTED AND EDITED BY HARMONIC REPUBLIC’S VIDEOGRAPHER “TONY BRAVO”, WHICH RECEIVED NOTHING BUT AMAZING FEEDBACK FROM THE MASSES.
2020 HE THEN RELEASED A VISUALS FOR “SAD KID” WHICH ADDRESSED PAST TRAUMAS AND RAISED AWARENESS ON THE ONGOING DEPRESSION ENDURED BY ARTISTS MOSTLY, WHICH RECEIVED HEART WARMING RESPONSES AND LEFT FANS WONDERING IF HE IS HINTING A PROJECT. HE HAS SINCE BEEN FEATURED ON A SERIES OF SINGLES INCLUDING THAT OF REVERED LOCAL BEATMAKER “LOXCKS BEATS” TITTLED “ROCKSTA”, AND MANY OTHERS, SOME OF WHICH HAD VISUALS BY CREW MEMBER “JOHN NA$H”. THE BRAND HAS BEEN GROWING AMAZINGLY GROWING EVER SINCE.
