Thu, 22 Dec 2016 10:55:50 +0000
By Terence Miselo
From the onset, organizer and Zambian Radio Awards C.E.O Emmanuel Nyoni Jr. aka DJ Fresh insisted that this is the beginning of the real journey in as far as recognizing radio personalities is concerned. With the inaugural awards receiving a good number of entries across the nation, there is need to embrace these awards and make them even bigger and better next year.n Friday 16th December 2016, the first ever-Zambian Radio Awards took place with lots of excitement and promises for better things to come in Zambian radio.On Friday 16th December 2016, the first ever-Zambian Radio Awards took place with lots of excitement and promises for better things to come in Zambian radio.
Over25 awards were presented on this historic night and one interesting and biggest award was the Legend of Radio award presented to one Kalumba Chikonde popularly known as K-Smash for his long-standing contribution to Zambian radio. Of course, this did not surpass the recognition award given to Radio Phoenix founding proprietor Errol Hickey who everybody knows has changed the face of Zambian radio. However, Kalumba’s recognition has been long overdue and deserves commendation and appreciation.
But who really is Kalumba Chikonde to deserve this recognition?
Many identify K-Smash as a radio and television personality but beyond that, he is a versatile MC as well as a public relations and media practitioner. He is undeniably an absolute gem of Zambian radio. Kalumba started his career with Radio Phoenix in 1997 at the age of 18. This was after he had had a good run at the Radio 4 Fan Club. His desire for radio was highly sparked by his secondary school days of debate at Munali Secondary School.
At Phoenix, his creative mind put him to work as he introduced a local music promotion called ‘Demo Action.’ This was a programme meant to give local upcoming musicians a chance to showcase their skills and receive airplay. This great show was followed by another, ‘Local Rhythms Countdown’. This was the first-ever local music chart show which ushered in a new era of urban Zambian music and made K-Smash a darling among the local musicians and entertainers.
In 2003, Smash left Phoenix to join Q-FM, a youthful emerging radio station at the time. There he served as a weekend presenter and produced the Q Drive Time Show. He also co-produced the Q Big Breakfast Show with his late colleague Nawa Kabika aka LBC.
During this same time, Kalumba made his debut on television with the first-ever Zambian urban music video show dubbed ‘Mondo Music Zone.’ He presented this show for three years, earning him further exposure to even become one of the judges for the Channel O’s Dance Africa project in 2004.
In 2005, Kalumba working with the likes of Zachariah Chavula become one of the founders of Hot FM Radio station where he served as the first Programmes Manager and later Creative and Content director. His influence widened and so was his creativity. In 2007, he created, produced and presented another first-ever local music video chart show named ‘Pipo’s Choice’ on Muvi TV. This he did for five years, providing artistes with criticism, commendation and reward for their music videos.
Later in 2011, K-Smash diverted a little bit from entertainment and participated in 2011 Zambian general elections by presenting the Electoral Commission of Zambia elections programme on Zambian National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC).
He later tried out on the corporate side of entertainment and anchored the Zambia Telecommunications produced programme on ZNBC TV called ‘Today with Zamtel’ from 2012 to 2014. This gave him more presence on TV as in 2015, he became presenter for another corporate-related programme called ‘Road to the Zambian Music Awards’ sponsored by Zambian Breweries.
While all these things were happening, Kalumba had a busy academic life. He studied Certified Accounting Technicians (CAT) at Zambia Centre for Accountancy Studies (ZCAS) then later pursued a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Public Relations at Cavendish University.
This academic background earned him corporate jobs. He worked as PR Officer and later assistant manager-public relations at Finance Building Society. This he did for eight years before joining his current employer MultiChoice Zambia in January 2015 where he is public relations officer for DStv.
With such a rich background and CV, K-Smash is real proof that radio business is big business as long as one operates within the boundaries of discipline, determination and inspiration. He is a true legend of radio.
