
Komani-born artist Lanfranco Mentoor has been selected for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit New York and a chance at international stardom.
Mentoor, who goes by the stage name Chronic, was chosen to visit the Big Apple after impressing judges at the International Arts Talent Showcase last year at the Silverstar Casino in Johannesburg.
The showcase, which is held annually, gives an opportunity to performers in music, dramatic arts and dancing a chance to showcase their talents in front of an illustrious panel of international judges. Winners get the golden tickets to the International Talent Convention hosted by the International Modelling and Talent Association (IMTA) where they have a chance to impress an audience which includes the biggest names in entertainment.
The rapper and producer was the only hip-hop artist to be selected from the candidates attending the convention in July.
Ecstatic about the opportunity to mingle with the who’s who in entertainment, Mentoor said it was his mother-in-law who made it all a reality. “I did not even have the money to go to audition at the showcase. Many people were telling me to enter, but I was in two minds about it. My mother-in-law called to asked if I was going and I told her I did not have the money. To my surprise, my wife told me a week later I was going and that everything was sorted out. I decided to dedicate my performance to her,” he said.
Mentoor, who is now based in Johannesburg, is a household name in Komani hip-hop circles. He started rapping in 2002 at the age of just 12. He also featured in one of the first mixtapes to be produced in Komani.
Having moved around the country he has had the opportunity to work with other notable names in South African hip-hop. In 2018 he was part of the #16BarBoomBatChallange where he was noticed by rappers Wicked and HHP.
Currently, he is raising funds to go to the US via his crowdfunding platform, Back a Buddy. To support Mentoor visit www.BackaBuddy.co.za and click the Help Lanfranco Get To NYC link. For more information about Mentoor and the IMTA convention call his agency 33andme at 011-039 2481 or email director@33andme.co.za