When Nicky B started working at Kaya 959 in 1997, she had no idea how her career would take shape. 

Twenty five years later, the DJ is now among a pool of seasoned radio jocks and music experts with a loyal following in Mzansi, via her Sunday evenings show – The World Show.

Nicky B, real name Nicky Blumenfeld, was among the first presenters on Mzansi’s first black-owned independent radio station; she  also helped build KayaFM's identity.

This is an achievement she is very proud of as she celebrates the silver jubilee of her career.

“My passion for the music and the arts is really my absolute dedication and is what has truly kept me going,” she says excitedly.

Rewinding back to that very first day of Kaya 959, Nicky B fondly recalls the day's huge celebratory event on that morning at the station's original studios were still situated on Bolton Road in Rosebank,

Everyone who was part of the staff was called in at 5am to bear witness to history being made. 

“At 6am, the entire staff squashed into the studio and Lawrence Dube was on the mic as he opened the first black-owned independent radio station in SA.

"That moment was so significant with the story of Kaya and what it aimed to achieve,” she says,  adding that the station was born out of democracy and the need to appeal to the contemporary adults and those that had returned from exile.

“When I started the first World Show on August 3rd 1997, I was the worst presenter in the history of radio presenting.

“It really took me a long time to really relax behind the mic. My then programme’s manager would advise that I put a picture of one of my friends on the mic to pretend as if I am conversing with them. But now with time, I really do believe that I am speaking to all my friends every Sunday.”

Nicky B's background is within the fine arts industry, which allowed her the opportunity to live in different parts of the world, including Eswatini where she taught art at an international school in Mbabane. 

She came back to Joburg wanting to exhibit her work with the aim of launching the public art movement as one of her many passions.

She succeeded with 70 art projects in seven years and continued teaching art locally.

Coming from a family of music collectors, she started making mix tapes and started deejaying at parties.

It was also through those parties and the special invites she received to DJ over the years that she got noticed by Peter Makurube, who then offered her a job on Kaya.

“The World Show has always been about the music and I think that is what has carried me through, certainly in the first few years. I remember the first song I ever played was Busi Mhlongo’s Umentshisi  and as a DJ, I had been fantasising about being able to play this music on radio. Because we really didn’t have a history of that in this country. 

“From the beginning, I always played a lot of African music and that is one of my biggest passions. But I also would play sounds like Aso jazz that hit the country in the early 90s, lounge music and music from around the globe; from Japanese or West Indian music. 

"But my focus has always been strongly on African music,” she says, attributing her taste in music to her parents and their then housekeeper who played a lot of African jams.

Nicky B took a risk during a time of zero internet, exposing listeners to music that they would otherwise not be privy to. 

“I remember the first time I did a feature on Fela Kuti and how  that moved me so much that I got off air and cried so much. Not from sadness but because I was overwhelmed that I had just done ‘this’.

"I think it was the first time in SA that a Fela Kuti song was allowed to be played. Sometimes there are songs playing on air and I am crying because I am so overwhelmed by the idea that I am able to share this music.”

Nicky B confidently states that she still has many years to go on radio.

“Until they won’t let me do radio anymore, I am not going anywhere. I am not ready to leave. For the mere fact that I get as excited and as nervous every week indicates to me that I am not ready to leave.”  

malibaa@sowetan.co.za