Lil Dranko

Born Matlotlo Sennacherib Archiebolt Maimane in Welkom, Free State, South Africa to parents Meggido Maimane and Elizabeth Maimane and known to his fanbase as – LIL DRANKO, an all round mainstream artist and entertainment brand who is truly a renaissance man specializing as a recording & performing artist, singer/songwriter, executive producer, model, Music Film Director and record label chief executive officer.

LIL DRANKO which is an abbreviation for Love Illustrated Live Drawn Rotating Around Nations Knowing Omnipotence, created his own song at the age of five years. It is said that the superstar realized his talent when waiting for his parents to check-in at a hotel in Durban, South Africa on their family vacation. With hunger and fatigue starting to kick-in the young LIL DRANKO vocalized his feelings in a song. By intelligently using a sesotho and setwana word “lapile” which means “hungry” in sesotho and “tired” setwana (Two South African official languages).

At the age of nine he continued to nurture his talents as an entertainer by going-on to write and sing a song titled “MAS in the heat” under his first unofficial stage name “MAS” (a combination of the first letters of his government names). Fast forward to the age of sixteen where he went to work with an up-and-coming Record label NME (New Movement Entertainment). Which saw the young LIL DRANKO appear on features, records and collaborations with artists in South Africa which were released and performed on the underground scene. LIL DRANKO also worked on a debut mixtape with NME which due to better opportunities could never get released and ended with him never signing a recording deal with NME.

He then ventured on his own and performed all over the city of Johannesburg in South Africa and Internationally with his first hit single, a freestyle titled “Gang Sauce” which was followed by the smash hit single “Dress Kode” (available on linktr.ee/lildranko) that entered the 2strongmagazine artist spotlight chart at number nine and is still there for over a record eleven months. LIL DRANKO’s song “Dress Kode” also got nominated for best song at the Djooky Music Awards in 2021 and enter the official independent chart in 2020. The song was followed by the mega hit single “Middle Man” (available on lintr.ee/lildranko) which entered the 2stongmagazine artist spotlight chart at number nine and also received a Show4me Music Award nomination in 2022.

Following all the success that came from his singles LIL DRANKO released the music film for his single “Head Shot” exclusively on YouTube for his audience. The song was received with positive reviews from fans and media outlets.

In 2022 LIL DRANKO released his debut album "Wedding Vows To Money" and received a Djooky Music Awards nomination for the lead single "Trillionaire Routine". The album "Wedding Vows To Money" gained LIL DRANKO respect from the music industry and went to generate streams in a hundred and sixty six countries. After the success of the album LIL DRANKO released his first collaboration with a song featuring Rick Ross titled "So Mob".

LIL DRANKO has gone on to catch the eyes of likes of Kerry Washington (Award winning actor), the late Aaron Carter (Diamond selling artist), Justin Gray (Diamond selling Songwriter & Producer), Lil Twist (Young Money artist), Blac Chyna (American Socialite & Rapper), Roccstar (Platinum selling producer) and many more influential figures in the entertainment industry.

2021 Saw LIL DRANKO get mentored by diamond selling songwriter and record producer Justin Gray who has written songs for the likes of Mariah Carey, John Legend and Avril Levigne. LIL DRANKO also got mentored by Brain Malouf who has Production credits on the songs of Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna and Miley Cyrus LIL DRANKO this was made possible through a production series hosted by mdiio U. LIL DRANKO’s collaborations cross genres and demographics as he has worked with a diverse group of people from all over the world.

With his purple and pink patterned hair accompanied by his “space specs” and being the highly fashionable man that he is, it’s no surprise that LIL DRANKO has gained the attention of many brands and influential people in the fashion industry. From appearing in a Puma promotional campaign advertisement, to collaborating with The Spear SA on T-shirts for their "courage and strength" campaign, and gaining the eye of the American fashion brand forever21 to being reposted on Instagram by award winning international designer David Tlale.

It is without a doubt that LIL DRANKO is an artist of high fashion sense. We will certainly be seeing him collaborate more with fashion brands and definitely see him creating his own designs for his merchandise.

LIL DRANKO has certainly delivered and will continue to deliver high quality unique music and has provided audiences with an exciting and unique high fashion sense image. He plans to keep feeding his fans and the pop culture at large with high quality unique music, visuals and fashion products while shifting the culture on the forefront and behind the scenes.

Find all LIL DRANKO links here – https://zez.am/lildranko