In 2010, when the larger-than-life DJ Sbu accepted a job at the SABC as a radio presenter, he left a massive hole in his absence that few would have dared to fill. DJ Sbu was leaving his breakfast show on YFM, the breeding ground for precocious radio talent in South Africa, and amidst speculation about who would replace the charismatic presenter, in stepped a rising talent in his mid-twenties by the name of Moeti Tsiki AKA, Mo Flava.
So when, 9 years later, station managers were tasked with replacing a bigger radio host on a bigger station (with all due respect to DJ Sbu and YFM) it came as no surprise that they called up the man who has proven time and again that he has what it takes to steady a ship on rough waters. On Monday, South Africa woke up to the sounds of #TheMorningFlava for the very first time.
Mo Flava’s debut on Metro FM’s breakfast segment has been highly anticipated since it was announced at the beginning of August and ZAlebs had the opportunity of speaking to the DJ just minutes after he completed his very first breakfast show on Metro FM.
We began by congratulating him before asking how he felt in the hours that led up to his debut show on The Morning Flava and he opened up candidly when he said:
“It’s an exciting task but it’s also very daunting, because you are partly responsible for how people feel about anything in the morning. It’s exciting but there’s also a lot of responsibility so I feel very honoured and excited about the road ahead.”
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Presenting in the morning must surely be different to preparing for a show in the afternoon (not least because of the radical shift to one’s sleeping schedules!). We asked Mo for some insight into how he approaches the different segments:
“The thing with any radio show is that you’ve got to work at it 24/7. So you’re preparing 24/7 because there’s something that’s always going on throughout the day, throughout the night and throughout the morning. So you have to constantly prepare but [for this show] there’s more to prepare because the show is longer so we prepare in the morning of the show and the day before.”
With the first show done and dusted, we looked to the future and asked the DJ to reveal some of his plans for the upcoming weeks and months on the show:
“The most important thing for me right now is to settle in with my team, get comfortable and reintroduce ourselves as the morning team. After that, we really just want to get some of our features going on the show and we are really excited about kids giving us the best answers. We’re excited about hearing people’s to-do lists for the day. We’ve got good music, good features but for now it’s about settling in! Let’s build a good relationship with the listener.”
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Listeners are difficult to please even at the best of times, but joining a show after replacing a fan favourite is never easy. However, it’s something Moeti has done a number of times in his career and we asked if he had any tips and tricks for easing the transition:
“Respect the listener! Respect the platform, respect the craft and respect radio. It’s about progress and opportunity as well as learning as we go and also being open to new ideas. That has always been my energy and my vibe and I hope to build on that with my new listeners.”
Although he spoke about preparing for his new show, we were curious to learn more about his morning routine when presenting the breakfast show. He was more than happy to share his journey from waking up to making it into the studio:
“I need to wake up at 3:30, leave the house at 4. I should have already planned my clothes the previous morning so that when I wake up all I do is clean up and hit the road, picking up breakfast on the way. I then go through the show for the morning, have a coffee and some ginger tea before the show and then I press play!”
Imagine waking up at 3:30 AM everyday?!
Did you miss out on the first episode of Mo Flava’s new breakfast slot? If so, don’t worry - Mo Flava also took over the ZAlebs Instagram page and gave us a front row seat to his first ever show on The Morning Flava. Head over to our page and take a look at everything that went down on Monday morning!
