- Thabo ‘Tbo Touch’ Molefe is most revered for his afternoon drive show The Touchdown on Metro FM.
- He believes that, with social media, it’s up to the broadcaster to make public knowledge sound fresh.
- Touch is also a successful entrepreneur who has business connections with U.S. A-listers.
- His Replenishment Concert returns in September, which will offer a full festival experience.
From Sharpeville, Gauteng, to the world, Thabo ‘Tbo Touch’ Molefe has been a radio maven for the better part of 20 years.
The longtime Metro FM broadcaster and host of the primetime afternoon drive show The Touchdown’s tenure in radio, business and entrepreneurship spans across borders.
Through his work presenting on-air and on television, Touch – which he is so affectionately known as – became the first media personality in South Africa to host four different programmes, including two live TV shows on SABC 1.
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But he says radio isn’t where it used to be when he started.
He shares with TRUELOVE what he believes has changed the most in the world of broadcasting in Mzansi over the past two decades.
“The preference people have for the medium, I don’t think it’s still the same because what you regard as an audience, everybody today is a broadcaster by virtue of having an Android or [an] Apple phone. And by the time you have to wait for breaking news, a lot of information has already become too accessible.
“Now, it takes the brilliancy of the broadcaster how to make something that is publicly known sound fresh when it comes from your airwaves and that type of skill requires radio jocks to give more than just playing music. The level of agility, the level of just being an all-rounder is far more critical than everything.”
There’s no denying the DRUM Money cover star's level of “agility” and innovation that spans across his tenure in entertainment.
A prime example is Metro FM’s The International segment he started in 2004 that linked the station to New York City’s Hot 97 station every Saturday morning. This came after an illustrious internship at Def Jam records in New York where he met big names like Kelis, Cam’Ron, The Wu-Tang Clan and more.
As someone who counts themselves as in between the old and new school, Touch was able to “give you an unparalleled experience and make you feel like you are in the heart of New York while you are sitting in Joburg. It’s because the hitmakers, entertainers, most of them came from the U.S. at that time.
“If you study the evolution of my radio style, I introduced a lot. I didn’t just introduce the whole U.S. A-lister experience, but I was the first to play Nigerian music on radio. I gave you Wizkid, D’banj, I gave you all these names. I went and broadcasted in Nigeria … I just brokered a whole Chris Brown concert not in SA, outside SA ,” he tells us.
In the business space, Touch founded his company Trademark, which has successfully staged and promoted international shows and has brought international artists like Brandy, Busta Rhymes, Regina Hall, Vivica A. Fox, Miguel and more for their first-ever trips to Mzansi.
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He counts these connections with U.S. A-listers like Fat Joe, Jim Jones and Rick Ross as friendships at this stage, where their relationships are beyond fanfare.
But what Touch connects the most with is involving his spirituality in his projects.
His Replenishment Concert, set to take place on 28 September 2024 at the Supersport Park Stadium in Centurion, is a fully-fledged gospel and lifestyle concert that he promises will be an uplifting experience for the whole family, regardless of religious beliefs.
Touch explains, “We’ve created a theme park experience in the middle of a concert. We’ve had the most successful children kiddie zones for the past two years and on our third year, what you see at Rand Show and Gold Reef City, I’m creating that experience in the middle of a concert because children should not be sidelined when you go out to have fun.”
Acts like Rebecca Malope and Kabelo Mabalane will take to the stage as a part of the lineup for festival goers will get to experience a day of music, food, gaming and more for the family.
