Luckeez Matyholweni

Luckeez Matyholweni was born Thembinkosi Mathew Matyolweni, but an error at the 1980 Native Affairs in Mdantsane had his name miss printed as Thembinkosi Maphues Matyolweni on his birth certificate. His grandmother who raised him gave him a new name, Lucky and when he was growing up he was referred to as “Lakana”, meaning “small luck”. Later I graduated to Luckeez Matyholweni or Brother Luckeez, a pet name given to me on the streets of my village Frankfort during my youth because of my deep compassion. This name became a building block of my personal philosophy of being a brother to everyone.

Music and activism have always been around me because my elder brother was an aspiring broadcaster but ended up a Socialist activist and later a soldier for uMkhonto WeSizwe, a military wing of the then banned ANC. My uncle Jack Matyolweni was a comedy contributor for Umhlobo Wenene FM (Then Radio Xhosa)’s Breakfast Show hosted by Vuyani Makaza. My cousins are also political activists. I inherited all these qualities thus Radio and activism became natural for me. I grew up recording radio presenters on radio and mimic their presentation style to find mine but I started out by Dj’ing during my High School days at Philemon Ngcelwane in Mdantsane in 1995 at Grade 10.

In 1998 after dropping out of Mechanical Engineering school at Walter Sisulu University I pursued my passion for radio by helping start the first Xhosa Speaking Community Radio Station for the East London and Mdantsane community while studying at Stanford Business College. This dream came to a reality when Imonti FM went on air for the first time in 2001. By this time he was working at a construction site during the first phase of the building of Hemmingways Casino in East London as general worker for an air condition company. He left his paying job to focus on my radio career at Imonti FM, a move that almost cost me his relationship with his parents, only to find out that his construction experience was to contribute during the building of the Imonti FM studios at the Fire Station in Fleet Street. This he regarded as the most defining moment of my life, learning to be an all rounder and taking life threatening risks for the benefit of the community. He was a member of a dynamic team that consisted of the likes of Lulu Haarmans (9-12  Umhlobo Wenene FM), Siyanda Fikelephi ( Programmes Manager at 200FM), Ayabulela Ngoqo and many more superstars.

He was the host of The Slamming Breakfast Show, a programme that truly unleashed Luckeez Matyholweni, the brother to the dreamer. He formed a relationship with WSU’s then infant radio training faculty BTFM and had 5 of its students on his radio show for practical work. Some of them went on to occupy high profile responsibilities. This was an everyday arrangement that he truly enjoyed, one student per day. The Slamming Breakfast Show is the programme that gave birth to Luckeez, (the brother to the artist) where he launched Rhyme Squad’s Hip Kwaito on air. This was a turning point for the whole province. Ask anyone who knows the Eastern Cape music scene about that song,and the best part of it they helped Rhyme Squad record that song and later their EP in their studios. He played Hip Kwaito the very next day after they finished the recording and by the time they finished the EP they could not walk the streets. Eastern Cape had experienced a reality it is yet to experience again for he believe in the government’s efforts in setting up a recording company in the Eastern Cape (South Africa), he prays they really succeed for this is important.