Born: Boitumelo Sean Radebe on 30 June 1997 at Baragwanath Hospital, Johannesburg

Nationality: South African
Occupation(s): Rapper, Producer
Years active: 2012 - present
Genre: Hip Hop
Instruments: Vocals, FL Studio

Background: Born and raised in the East Rand, Melo spent his early years living in Dawn Park and moved to Villa Liza, his current home, at age 9. He is the oldest of three, having a younger brother and sister, whom he credits as motivation to keep producing music. He started writing rhymes at age 14, but only started rapping at 16 when he was approached by one of his schoolmates and eventual close friend, Amadeo Cochrane, to attend a cypher during break time. Cochrane, noticing Melo's adept writing skills, but lack of confidence, encouraged Melo to keep practising and working on his delivery, including him in many cyphers during and after school, where he began to display rapid progress lyrically and technically. At this stage, Melo was already an avid music lover, a passion he shared with long time friend Jermaine "The Protocol" Williams, who along with Muanda "Jazzy Mondrey" Mafunzwaini had developed an interest in the music production software FL Studio and introduced Melo to it. The three started producing their own beats after growing tired of writing raps over popular instrumentals. Williams then started a music group called "Lyrical Vibe Music", to which he added Jazzy Mondrey and Melo to the roster. This encouraged Melo to start writing more and more raps and eventually release his very first track entitled "Empty Clipz" in which he featured The Protocol with Jazzy Mondrey producing the beat. After hearing "Empty Clipz" and noticing remarkable growth in both The Protocol and Melo's musical talent and style, Amadeo and his brother, Dalmaine, approached both Melo and The Protocol to form alongside them a rap group named "Lethal Perception", which would later be joined by Koketso "Skeetso" Mokgetsi and Katleho "Kushey" Shabangu, who were already long time friends and rappers at the time. After distance proved to be a problem, Lethal Perception was disbanded and "Kontrol Unit" was formed. It was a more practical setup since all five of the remaining members (Melo, The Protocol, Skeetso, Kushey and Jazzy Mondrey) were based in the same neighbourhood and could work regularly. Melo has since released a string of domestically successful singles, freestyles and his debut project, First Draft EP on SoundCloud and Audiomack in 2016, making him the first artist under the Kontrol Unit stable to release a solo project. Melo's trump card is his versatility over any type of beat. Not being the best hook man, Melo more than supplements for this with his rapid fire punches, complex rhyme schemes and creative word play.

Influences:

• Teammates
• Parican "Twyce" Mathiba
• Tumi Molekane
• Reason The Mass
• Pharrell Williams
• Pusha T
• Anthony Top Dawg Tiffith

Musical style:

• Cloud trap subgenre
• Trip trap
• Modern boom bap
• Jazz trap fusion
• Experimental hip hop

Notable work:

• Single: "Empty Clipz" (Prod. By Jazzy Mondrey) (2015)
• Single: "Grindin' (Freestyle)" (w/ The Protocol) (2015)
• Single: "All The Way Up (Freestyle)" (2016)
• Unofficial solo debut project "First Draft EP" released under Kontrol Unit (2016)
• "First Draft EP: Deluxe Edition" (2017)

Career highlights:

• Took second place in high school talent show alongside crew member Kushey (2016)
• Unselected entrant in Jagermeister Back The Artist 2016 and Vuzu TV's "The Hustle" Season 2
• Performed as a member of Kontrol Unit at various locations in the East Rand (including Freeway Park, Sunward Park, Germiston's Nextasy Underground Nightclub and the East Rand's very first Play Party held at the Dawn Park tennis and basketball court in December 2016)