The rise, fall and rise again of DJ Sbu

The rise, fall and rise again of DJ Sbu

Doors are there to be kicked in”

“What goes down must go up.”

            Surely this can be the only “law” that best describes Sbusiso Leope’s (DJ Sbu) lifelong resistance to the many forces that have tried – and sometimes succeeded – in pulling him down to earth.

            At the turn of the century while trying to squeeze into the entertainment industry, he was informed, matter-of-factly and repeatedly, that he didn’t have what it takes to enter, let alone make it.

            These struggles soon brought the gravelly voiced media personality to a conclusion; that sometimes doors are best kicked in rather than knocked on.

            With the charisma and unlikely humility that has seen him dominate the local media landscape, DJ Sbu talks very candidly about the dizzying highs and soul-crushing lows of this fairytale.

In a Facebook post earlier on this year you mentioned you come up from constant rejection struggling from one audition to another where you would be bluntly told that you didn’t have a “voice for radio”. Such rejection can be pretty personal. What gave you and continues to give you the strength to keep kicking down such barriers?

DJ Sbu: What inspires me now is that I have a three year old daughter.

            Every time I look at her and think of giving up or becoming a loser, I realise that it would be very, very disappointing to her when she is an 18 year old.

            Now she is only three years old, imagine 15 or 20 years from now?

Obviously now that you have made it, you do encounter some of the people that “dissed” you. How do they react and how do you treat them?

DJ Sbu: Well I never really hold grudges and I don’t want to be like “Yeah look at me now I told you”.

            I also understand that people have got their own fears.

People were like “You gonna start your own record company” and “You gonna start your own energy drink company”?

            They were telling me that my dreams are not possible but look at me now.

I also understand that people are afraid of taking risks and they need people like us to inspire them not only with our words but with actions.

Being homeless, getting divorced, going bankrupt are just some of the examples of rock bottom levels a number of now successful people have sunk to and then risen up from. What would you say has been rock bottom for you?

DJ Sbu: For me it’s personal, from breakups in relationships and losing money.

            I have made a lot of money and I have also lost a lot of money.

How did you pick yourself up and turnaround the situation?

DJ Sbu: What I think I was clever about is actually buying a lot of property because when I was going through a rough time I was selling some of my property to actually survive.

            The thing with property is you can’t sell it fast; it takes time, maybe a couple of months.

So I had to be patient.

            Even recently as I started Mo Faya I had to downgrade from the “lifestyle”.

I can say I was living a dream life, I had everything that I wanted, I had sport cars, and I had an amazing home.

            I downgraded because I had to let go of my sport cars, let go of my home and to invest in Mo Faya.

            Currently as Mo Faya stands I have invested more than 6 million into it.

I don’t take that as losing money because of at some stage I will get it all back.

            When I started Mo Faya last year people didn’t believe that it would still be standing till now.

            I was also fired from Metro FM last year but now I have the fastest growing breakfast show in South Africa.

Forbes Africa recently recognized you as one of “13 young Africans to watch”. What does this recognition mean for you at a personal level?

DJ Sbu: I think they see the potential and the consistency of the work that I have done, the foundation for the kids whom I helped through school, the record company, the success of the different artists, my own successful career in the entertainment industry being the presenter of radio shows, being a television presenter and countless albums that have gone either platinum or multi-platinum.

            All of that then gets documented on the internet and I think that’s how Forbes tracks your success rate or your achievement.

            Then they are able to put those titles to you.

For me the title that Forbes has given me means that I must work even harder.

            To be recognized by these huge platforms like Forbes is such a huge achievement.

I am social entrepreneur, I believe in innovation.

            Yeah I am definitely one of the 13 young Africans to watch.

            I am going to surprise a lot of people.

I am going to be one of the guys who are contributing to taking Africa to the next level.

What do you think it means for other young professionals and entrepreneurs?

DJ Sbu: I think it’s something really awesome to look up to.

            I mean I also look up to Black Coffee, I look up to Trevor Noah.

I look up to even younger guys than me.

It’s been said that the streets can teach you lessons that you would never learn at Harvard Business School. What would you say has been the most useful piece of business advice that you have learnt from your hard-knock experiences hustling on the streets of tough neighbourhoods?

DJ Sbu: The motto that I live by is “Ignore nonsense and focus on what matters, return hate with love, kill them with kindness”.

            I ignore nonsense, I ignore things that are not relevant to me.

I focus on the goal.

             I never bring people down.

I’m thoughtful of others.

            That’s how I basically survived the streets of Jozi and the streets of Tembisa.

“You aint a real hustler if you can’t lose it all then get it all back” is a common saying, yet at the same time a businessman mustn’t make moves that jeopardize his family’s welfare. How do you balance the need to take risks in business with the wisdom to know when it’s not worth it?

DJ Sbu: I don’t have a salary you know, I pay myself a salary so if I don’t work I am not gonna get paid and I also have a lot of people that depend on me.

            So I am a leader in a way.

As an entrepreneur I make calculated risks of-course, I just don’t risk and I have put myself in a position of that I have multiple revenue streams of income.

One does not achieve the kind of level of success that you have achieved without making some mistakes?

DJ Sbu: I think I made a lot of mistakes.

            I think its irresponsible things like speeding, I have been caught speeding, and I have been caught drinking and driving.

            I mean things like that especially for somebody like myself who calls himself a “leader”.

Other than that I feel like all the mistakes are worth it because of they made me who I am today.

Given your background in the media you could have taken the more obvious routes into merchandising such as headphones or clothes,  yet you opted for entering the already highly competitive energy drink market. What made you decide to go this route?

DJ Sbu: I once had a chat with my mentor and I was holding a can of Red Bull.

            He asked me on how many cans I drank in a day and I responded that it was between three to five.

            He then asked me how many I drank in a month and I told him it came up to about a case.

I thought maybe I should just own it and I think that actually planted a seed in my mind.

            The actual idea then came from Sphiwe Shongwe, my business partner.

Energy drinks are trendy, people mix them with alcohol, taxi drivers drink them because they are always on the road, students drink them when studying and so on.

            You also need to remember I am not in the business of an energy drink, I am in the beverage business.

Not every DJ/producer/media personality is an entrepreneur. How best do you think those that fall in this category can still make extra income in terms of. Do they get a business manager, buy shares or find other revenue streams?

DJ Sbu: I think media people should find exactly on what they are passionate about, it can be trading, farming, or anything and they can invest in that sector.

            I am passionate about beverages.

I am building my own Coca-Cola.

            As an entertainer you can’t just rely on one thing for example if you are an actress staying as an actress.

            You must actually branch out.

Relationships are already complicated enough and when money is added to them they can become very volatile. How do you manage your business relationships with TK Nciza and other business partners so that differences are handled without messing up the business side of things?

DJ Sbu: Very, very good question.

            I think its HONESTY.

When you want to work with somebody it has to be someone that you actually trust.

            I have never have had any bad experiences as far as finances are concerned.

I have many partners in everything but I have chosen the partners very well.

A lot of celebrities seem to be involved in charity simply because they “have to” for PR reasons, yet when you throw yourself into community initiatives one can’t help but notice the sparkle in your eyes. Where did you get this deep desire to help out people?

DJ Sbu: I think where I come from has had an impact, because I come from  a township which has a lot of things that are not well at all.

The late nineties all the way to the mid 2000s were a magical time for South African radio as new stations, presenters and world class innovations were introduced to listeners. It however seems that the magic has somewhat “faded” as the same personalities are “recycled”, concepts have lost their flavour. How do you think that spark can be restored to South African radio?

I think innovation because when time goes people consume content in a different way.

            For example people used to be loyal to one radio station but now when they listening to radio on their phones and on social media.

            I think innovation allows us as radio people to incorporate everything and use internet and social media while broadcasting.

What’s your response to criticisms from some people that you are not the easiest of people to work with?

DJ Sbu: I think everybody will tell you that I am the easiest person to work with!

            I just want an environment of innovation and excitement.

Are there any things that you do purposefully so that people can work better with you?

DJ Sbu: Yes.

            I create a structure in my team.

A few days ago we had a meeting with the team and everybody was raising their concerns about some of the things have been happening.

            Such things we handle as a team and have follow-ups on everything else.

What’s on your plate at the moment and what other innovations can we expect from you over the next two  to three years?

DJ Sbu: Its Mo Faya Water that we are launching soon, Mo Faya Free Sugar version that we are also launching soon as well as Mo Faya Cola.

            We are also growing my radio platform to TV.

Radio, TV, production, business, philanthropy, family commitments etc…Phew! How do you fit all of this into 24 hours?

DJ Sbu: I have got a TEAM.

            I have got a team at Mo Faya, I have got a team at leadership 2020, I have got a team at TS Records, I have got a team at CNBC,

            I have got a team everywhere!

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