Sizwe Moeketsi (born 30 June 1987) is a South African musician commonly known as Reason, a name he uses as a

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

. He is also known as Sizwe Alakine, an

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...

he adopted after taking up a career in

Amapiano Amapiano is a genre of music from South Africa that became popular in mid-2012 with an earlier regular occurrence on South African radio stations in the early 2000s. It is a hybrid of kwaito, deep house, gqom, jazz, soul, and lounge music char ...

Early life and education

Sizwe Moeketsi was born on 30 June 1987 in

Tembisa Thembisa, formerly Tembisa, is a large Township (South Africa), township situated to the north of Kempton Park, Gauteng, Kempton Park on the East Rand, Gauteng, South Africa. It was established in 1957 when black people were resettled from Alexandr ...

, and grew up in

Katlehong Katlehong is a large township in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. It is 28 km south-east of Johannesburg and south of Germiston between two other townships of Thokoza and Vosloorus next to the N3 highway. It forms part of the City of E ...

, South Africa.

Career

Using the stage name Reason, his first appearance on mainstream radio was in 2004 on YFM Radio. He started recording in 2005, starting as a

battle rapper Battle rap (also known as rap battling)Edwards, Paul, 2009, p. 25. is a type of rapping performed between two or more performers that incorporates boasts, insults, wordplay and disses originating in the African-American community. Battle rap is of ...

, and came to prominence after his collaborative work with Ms Nthabi. He has worked with some of South Africa's respected names, including

Stogie T Tumi Molekane (born 16 August 1981) is a Tanzanian-born South African rapper and poet. He was the lead vocalist of Tumi and the Volume, that was officially disbanded in 2012. In 2016, Tumi relaunched himself as Stogie T and released an eponymou ...

, Moneoa, ProVerb,

DJ Maphorisa Themba Sekowe (born 15 November 1987), known professionally as DJ Maphorisa, is a South African DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter. As a record producer with a blend of house music, amapiano and afro pop music, afropop, he has worked ...

Kwesta Senzo Mfundo Vilakazi (born 11 August 1988) known professionally as Kwesta, is a South African rapper and songwriter. Born in Katlehong, Gauteng, a township also known as "K1". In 2003, at the age of 15, he and his friends formed a rap group G ...

, and HHP. In 2014, Reason released an album titled ''Audio High Definition'', which included hits like "2Cups Shakur" and "Glasses to The Ceiling", featuring

Locnville Locnville (sometimes abridged as LCNVL) is a South African electro hop music duo. Identical twin brothers Andrew and Brian Chaplin formed Locnville in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2009. The twins are singer-songwriters, song producers and musici ...

. After pursuing a career in Amapiano music, he adopted the

Sizwe Alakine, releasing the song "Khanda Shisa" under that name in July 2021. He has also been known as ReasonHD and gaaaAHDbody, the latter name also being the name of a 2014 hip hop track.

Record labels

Reason signed a deal with

Warner Music South Africa Warner Music Africa (WMA) (formerly Warner Music South Africa) is a music corporation of the global record label Warner Music Group, founded on 5 December 2013. with its South Africa arm managing artist development, marketing, and distribution f ...

in February 2022, after formerly recording with Motif Records from 2011, and Promised Land Records.

Discography

* ''The Reasoning'' (2010) * ''Audio 3D'' (2012) * ''Audio High Definition'' (2014) * ''Audio Re-Definition (Reason Season)'' (2015) * ''Love Girls'' (2017) * ''Azania'' (2018) * ''Alekine World'' (2022)

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations include ''Hype'' magazine's King of the Bedroom (2005); Top 5 Hottest unsigned rappers in South Africa (2005) by ''Hype''; YFM Radio's Hip Hop show ''Rap Activitys Emcee of the Month (2005); and 10 Hottest Rappers in South Africa (2013).

Personal life

Reason was married for seven years to Mosa Moeketsi and they had two children before divorcing. He also has twins through his relationship with Luthando Shosha.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reason Living people Amapiano musicians South African record producers People from Katlehong South African rappers Sotho people 21st-century rappers 21st-century South African musicians 1987 births English-language singers from South Africa