Based: Gauteng
Refentse Morake is an Afrikaans singer who grew up in Vereenging. He was 17 when he was noticed on the pavement of his home in Unitaspark, a suburb of Vereeniging while playing and singing Guitar. A lady – Cecilia Marchionna, or Aunt Kleintjie , as she is more famous, heard him. She approached him and asked if she could record a video of him and put the video on her facebook . He agreed and thought the “aunt” probably only had a few Facebook friends, but that was a major underestimation.
The Facebook video shot high with 30 000 views on the first day, up to 160 000 four days later, and continues to grow. In April 2015, he performed in the street in Baron van Reede Street in Oudtshoorn , when his favorite singer, Karen Zoid , passed by and gave him R10 in appreciation for his attempt. That evening, organizers at the KKNK TookMorake behind the scenes of the festival’s opening concert, where he met several music stars, including Karen Zoid, and offered a music contract.
Refentse released his debut album My Hart Bly in a Language in 2016, and his second album By My Venster is released in 2017.
