This week on Thursday (1 September 2022) Wilson Bafana Nkosi celebrated 36 years of working for the same radio station, METRO FM.
The professional singer and radio disc jockey hails from Piet Retief, a small town in Mpumalanga province of South Africa.
Nkosi was born on 24 April 24, 1975.
He relocated from Piet Retief and ported to Swaziland (now ESwatini) while still young, and that was where he spent most of his childhood days.
These days, Wilson hosts the Sounds and Stuff Like That, his 9 – 12 Sunday show on METRO FM.
And the Poetry In Motion programme, which forms part of his Sunday Show on METRO FM is known to have inspired and helped millions of people including, those who were contemplating committing suicide.
Nkosi’s dream as he grew up was always to become a radio DJ.
After completing his studies, the young Nkosi got a reply from the SABC informing him of the launch of Radio Metropolitan, as METRO FM was then known.
The letter also informed him that if he was still interested in pursuing radio as a career, then he would have to come through to the SABC for an audition.
Nkosi’s attempt was successful and in 1986 he was one of METRO FMs first DJs.
Nkosi has since learnt that in life, some dreams do come true.
If you ask Wilson what slots he has hosted on METRO FM, and he will say, I have hosted them all apart from the Jazz slot, and that is purely by choice.
His past slots at METRO FM include both the morning and afternoon drive-time shows.
A year into radio, Nkosi became a TV presenter for the show Sidlalela Intsha, Sidlalela Ulutsha a request show.
Nkosi had also featured on Studio Mix in the absence of its main anchor, the late Bob Mabena, and was also one of Jam Alleys first presenters when the show launched in 1992.
And outside of METRO FM, Nkosi is a copywriter, employed by Wilson B. Nkosi Communications, an agency that writes and produces radio and TV commercials.
The agency was founded by Nkosi in 1995 and is still going strong.
Wilson’s first job as a copywriter was at J Walter Thompson and after 17 years he is still their resident writer.
Other ad agencies Wilson has worked for include, Young and Rubicam and Ogilvy and Mather.
Wilson continues to do freelance work for many agencies as a writer and voice-over artist.
His professional liaison with Reliable Music Warehouse began with the Reliable Music Half Hour – a feature on his show.
Records add that with time, Wilson decided to take it to another level.
He wanted to make sure that he would be responsible for the success or failure of the show and to do that he had to acquire total creative control.
Wilson started writing scripts for the show and as a result, Reliable was very impressed with his body of work.
The TV campaigns stemmed from this. Wilson jokingly adds that people now think that I own Reliable Music Warehouse simply because I’m their brand ambassador.
To date, Wilson continues to host the Sounds and Stuff Like That, his 9- 12 Sunday show on METRO FM.
As also revealed, Wilsons success in all that he does can be credited to the fact that he approaches his work with plenty of zeal.
Wilson makes sure that he always does the best that he can.
This is one lesson any man should be glad to learn from the life of Wilson B. Nkosi.
May he continue to be a blessing and inspiration to millions at home and abroad for many years and decades to come.
