‘Embrace the growth. You’re going to be a star!’
The nationwide MTV VJ Search for 2018, in partnership with Breezer, is back. We talk to last year's winner Tshego Koke, about how it changed his life.
Tshego Koke, 26, the last MTV Base VJ Search winner, is a hard worker whose daily mantra is “your craft is your baby, harness it”.
As the 2017 winner, Koke, who was born in Ga-Rankuwa and raised in Johannesburg, got the opportunity to gain a behind-the-scenes view of the television network’s day-to-day activities.
In less than a month, he was on MTV Base as a co-host of entertainment trends show NewsISH, joining fellow VJs Kim Jayde Robinson, Farieda “Pharoafi” Metsileng and Sandile Ntshingila.
Within three months, he was assigned his own show, MTV Base Top 30, on which he hosted the leading music charts each week and travelled the country to interact with the who’s who of the entertainment industry.
Some of those he interviewed include US music stars Swizz Beatz and Migos, Nigerian chart-topper Niniola and local musicians Kwesta, Babes Wodumo, Nasty C and Distruction Boyz. His resume also includes being nominated for Cosmo Sexiest SA Man 2018.
Koke says being a presenter changed his life for the better. “I feel like I’ve achieved the first phase. For that I’m very grateful and even more motivated to go after all these visions that I still have.
“I’m really looking forward to unpacking and manifesting it all. “Life has been going through a paradigm shift. It’s almost surreal.
“I get to interview international acts and some of them are people who influenced how I see life. I also get to share my ideologies with the masses.”
He adds that the youth look up to people on TV, making it imperative to live a clean and inspirational life. Koke will conclude his year at MTV Base by hosting the nationwide MTV Base VJ Search for 2018 to open the doors for a new face.
His advice to the next winner is: “Keep the right people around you, always be ready to learn.
“The nerves will always be there, but that’s a good thing. “Embrace the growth. You’re going to be a star!”
He will remain with the channel as a presenter but will explore other opportunities. “There’s more to learn and more avenues to get into.
“I just joined Massiv Metro so I really want to delve into that spectrum and learn and grow in that space as much as I can.”
The winner and new VJ will be awarded a 12-month contract as an ambassador for the network and may also host MTV Base shows.
