When Yarona FM was born on 24 August 1999, he was just 10 years and probably clueless about being a broadcaster. The radio station, which identifies itself with the freshest and newest songs targeted towards Botswana’s urban youth audience, attracted the likes of Tshepang Motsisi, popularly known as T-Izzy (‘believe the Hype’), the young lad who hails from Ramotswa in mid-2007 at the age of 18.
Tshepang hosted a show called La Caliente Special on Saturdays from 6am to 9 am and it was renamed The Hotness in 2009. The Hotness was then rescheduled to 9am to 1pm on Saturdays and he was also slotted between 3pm to 6pm on Sundays. He also hosted the Mascom Top 20 feature from 10am to 1pm within The Hotness on Saturdays, which really paved the way to bigger and better things.
He describes himself as an entrepreneur and philanthropist.
T-Izzy founded a clothing label called Hotness and he is also passionate about giving back to the community. From the name of his show “The Hotness”, he founded an annual charity initiative with Yarona FM called The Hotness in The Cold where he asks his audience and the public to donate warm clothes and blankets that they no longer need or use to give to the needy during winter. This campaign has been a success hence winning him a lot of attention and listeners.
His career boomed after his promotion from weekend to weekday slot doing a mid-morning breakfast show called The Bridge. This was a major challenge because he was always going to be compared to his counterparts who did the same time slots, the likes of the outspoken, charismatic Tumie Ramsden, who did a great job with her show, The Midmorning Affair, and the crazy and wild Boipelo Seleke, who did Bold Outrageous Impulse.
Tshepang has done well to keep himself relevant in terms of content; his features have made his show one of the most interactive shows he has ever done. Thanks to the power of social media, his listeners can chat and interact with one another and participate in the show through pages he created for his show on Facebook and twitter.
Tshepang started his career as a Hip-hop and RnB DJ and he has made it in the industry, playing alongside big acts like our very own DJ O’Neal, Dj Kells, and Dj Fresh from South Africa.
He played at Swagga Club in Mafikeng recently and co-hosts a Hip-Hop show on Sundays called Scramble4Africa, an urban African hip hop music show from 6pm to 8pm with DJ Kells.
He ends 2012 on a high note after winning two awards within a short period of time. In 2012, he was voted best radio presenter and won an award at the MISA media awards and through his Hotness in the Cold charity initiative he won yet another award, a vision 2016 award under the pillar, “a united and proud nation”.
His listeners can catch him weekdays between 10am and 2pm on the Bridge and also dance to his fusions on the ultimate hotness mix every Friday from 1130am to 1157am.
T-Izzy Profile
Date of birth: 17 May 1989
Place of birth: Ramotswa, Bamalete Hospital
Home village: Ramotswa
Favourite dish: Pasta and mince
