If one were to shout out the name Mvulane Mnisi to a crowd of radio fanatics gathered at a bash, they’d probably fall silent, wondering who the hell one
was talking about. However, if one screamed out the name Rudeboy, one would most certainly get a deafening response. Radio DJs are often known by their peculiar nicknames. Yfm listeners were concerned with Mvulane Mnisi’s loudness and roughness and his need to make a statement. Listeners started calling him rude. The idea grew on him and he became known as Rudeboy Paul. The dreadlocked Mnisi is one of Yfm’s most popular DJs and is co-host of Kamikaze Heat every weekday with Unathi Nkayi. A jack of all trades at the age of 24, Mnisi has had a shot at television presenting, is the editor of YMag —Gauteng’s popular culture magazine — and has his own events management and coordination company, Rudeboy Productions. He first tried his hand at television eight years ago in an environmental show called Ecovision: ‘I learnt while I was working there. I was part of production and also translated scripts,” Mnisi says. He later landed a job at the Voice of Soweto as a newsreader and had to juggle work and school — he was studying towards a media studies diploma at Boston City Campus. ‘It was good because while I was learning the theory I could also get some practical experience,” he says. It wasn’t long before Mnisi realised that he had to learn to do a lot more than just reading the news. ‘I had to edit my own clips, I had to find my own stories, go to press conferences, just anything and everything,” he says. Mnisi wanted to host a show on the community station and when one of the DJs needed somebody to fill in, he was up for the challenge. ‘I eventually got my own show, Don Paradise. It was a breakfast show and I just inherited the name from the previous DJ.” He calls Voice of Soweto a breeding ground for DJs, noting that the station has produced some household names: ‘So many of us come from that school and it was a great platform for us.” Mnisi had spent a year and a half at the community station when he heard about a licence being issued out for a new youth station in 1996. ‘I thought this was an opportunity for me to spread my wings from community radio to commercial. I went to about five auditions before I got the job.” Mnisi was just 18 when he started at Yfm and over the years has introduced all kinds of poets and rappers on his shows.In addition, he is a performer at the Politburo Sessions, a concept of fusing traditional African music, spoken word, dance and song. He also appears as part of Poets in da House, featuring young, talented South Africans who have chosen an alternative platform for self-expression. ‘I love and appreciate poetry,” he says. ‘I often do sessions with Kgafela [oa Magogodi] and I’d be behind the turntables and every now and again, spit [recite] something out.” As a drummer, a vocalist and a rapper, Mnisi shows that he is a man of many talents. Yet he is shy to sing his own praises: ‘I’m not a master drummer, but I play. It gets me closer to my being. Yes, I sing, but I’m not a supreme vocalist.” Television viewers will recall that Mnisi was once a presenter for Jam Alley. He left after seven months because he felt out of place. ‘I used to watch tapes of myself and thought, this is not Paul. I felt like I was putting on a mask. It just wasn’t me. When I accepted the job offer, I thought I’d bring a bit of cultural scope into the programme, maybe have some interviews with prominent figures in society. I didn’t realise that Jam Alley’s formula had worked for many, many years and that was that.”Mnisi is also a former Channel O presenter on DStv and has appeared in a cameo on Soul City, a series he commends for highlighting certain social issues that many disregard.About his editorship of YMag he says: ‘I wasn’t keen when I was approached to be editor. I had no prior experience, but I had studied to a certain degree. I looked at it as a challenge and took the job. At first it was draining, bouncing around between radio, print and my own company. I’m learning quite a bit and it comes as a blessing.”He has recently released his first album, Azanian Pulse, a collection of remixed songs from South Africa’s musical legends. About the title he says: ‘When we became liberated the flag changed, but the name didn’t. How can I identify with the name South Africa? Sure, it’s the southern tip of Africa, but I called my album the Azanian Pulse because for me it is part of a cleansing ritual — the beginning of a new era.”