Based: Johannesburg

T BO was born in Thokoza but later moved to the Vaal, where they stayed until he was eight years old. Whilst in the Vaal, he attended Kgomotso Primary School until grade 2. His family then moved back to Johannesburg where he continued his studies at Oliver Lodge Primary School. He spent most of his high school years at General Smuts High School, but in grade 10 he moved to New York. He concluded his schooling at Bishop Grimes High in East Syracuse, NYU. He also attended NYU and completed his marketing at Bond University. Thabo is also quite the sportsman and has received accolades in his chosen sports. He received the MVP award for golf as well as for basketball.

In 1999, he felt that it was time to return home to South Africa, however, the time was not right. He then got a job as a bartender at a club called Ecstasy where he was introduced to the life of hip hop and some of its many celebrities.
His next project was a music class which he quit after only two months. He then decided to pursue his original dream, which was to study Marketing at NYU. He knew that he was a born entrepreneur when he was able to get himself enrolled at NYU minus the necessary academic requirements. He had convinced them that he would be one of their best students and managed to keep his word. He was one of the best in his Consumer and Buyer behaviour course and he was one of the founders of the Entrepreneurial Club.

T BO served as intern at Def Jam records where he headed the street team. He pushed promotions for big names such as Foxy Brown, and Red Man. It was during this time that he met DJ Enuf of Hot 97 in a record store.

Rise to Fame:

He seized the opportunity and expressed his desire to be on radio. Enuf invited Africa (as he affectionately called T BO) to Hot 97. Upon his arrival, T BO met Angie Martinez and Funk Master Flex, who had just finished his show. It was that day as he assisted DJ Enuf and observed the jock at work that he fell in love with radio. T BO met a lot of famous people including Talib Kweli and The Wu Tang Clan. Four weeks into working with Enuf he realised that he was standing at the door of opportunity and he decided to open it. He started making suggestions to Enuf about the Rush Hour Show and it was from these changes that Thabo got to play a more pivotal role in The Rush Hour Show with Enuf.

Soon after, T BO met Renee Mclean, manager to international Hip Hop Star, Camron as well as Kellis, Mya and other big names. T BO arranged various celebrity interviews through Renee. Although the interviews went ahead, Thabo was still not officially a member of the Hot 97 team. The celebrities were under the illusion that T BO was an employee simply because he had access to the studio, and this played to his advantage. It was these interviews that he feels truly introduced him to what radio is about.

In 2003 he heard about the Jam Session which took place every Saturday night on METRO FM. He saw this as the perfect vehicle to share his New York experience with his people in South Africa. His vision was and still is to see METRO FM and Hot 97 reach an agreement to syndicate shows to each other. On July 16th 2003, Thabo made his first live crossing from New York to South Africa.
He recalls how he was at the Hot 97 Summer Jam having fun with the likes of Angie Martinez, Camron and Nas, when Zak and Penny called him live on air. Initially Penny dismissed him as one of “Bo M’rapper”, a hip hop hopeful calling the show. T BO’s defining moment, as he calls it, came when Zak introduced him to METRO FM’s audience for the first time and the rest as they say is history.

T BO’s other achievements include President of Konvict Muzik South Africa an international entertainment company owned by a long time and multi platinum recording and Grammy award winning artists Akon.

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