Leslie 'Lee' Kasumba

Last updated
Leslie 'Lee' Kasumba
Born
Leslie Kasumba

September 2, 1980 (1980-09-02) (age 41)
Uganda
Other namesLee, Miss Media
OccupationRadio and TV presenter, media personality, writer, singer, songwriter
Years active1999 - present

Leslie 'Lee' Kasumba (born September 2, 1980) Leslie "Lee" Kasumba is a Ugandan radio and TV presenter, media personality, writer, singer, and songwriter in Africa.

Contents

She has worked as the Head of Channel O Africa since 2011 [1] and is one of the most influential and reputable media personalities in Africa.

Early life

Leslie Kasumba was born in Cuba and raised in South Africa. Her parents initially wanted her to study something more academic, [2] but by the time she was 19, she began working as a Dj and entered the field of entertainment.

Career

Leslie Kasumba began working as a DJ at the age of 19, when she was selected as a DJ and producer for the biggest radio station in South Africa, YFM. During the 8 years she worked there, she also functioned as the editor at Y Magazine. Lee Kasumba also began writing for Centric Magazine, hosted the Price of Fame panel with Quincy Jones and interviewed Tony Blair for the first ever 'MTV Base Meets'. [3]

Leslie Kasumba has served as a TV host for Emcee Africa. She also hosted the African Live 8 music concert, and presented the Key Note address to the United Nations at the Global African Hip-Hop Summit. Her radio show, “Arambe” was the biggest radio show to come out of South Africa and the first to actively promote and support South African nationals.

Leslie Kasumba has worked internationally as an on-air personality. She has presented African radio shows in Norway, co-hosted the BBC's "World Have Your Say" along with Ross Atkins which was broadcast to over 20 million people worldwide, and was continually invited to be a panellist on the show. She's worked with radio stations in Netherlands on a program called 'This Is Africa' their biggest hip-hop radio program.

Leslie Kasumba has worked as the head of Channel O Africa for 3 years. She has worked as part of the Big Brother Africa panel, worked on the Channel O Awards Team, been a team member of the AMVCA and participated in numerous talks internationally.

Leslie Kasumba is also regarded as having played an important role in Hip hop in Africa. Due to her love and relevance to the culture, she's been labelled the 'First Lady of Hip hop' in South Africa. [4] She's hosted several hip-hop battles in South Africa, and travelled around the continent as TV host for Emcee Africa. [5] She's exclusively interviewed various International hip hop acts, including Damian Marley, K’naan, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliott, Eve and Praz of the Fugees, [6] and hosted the Live 8 and the "Mixtape Interviews" with Missy Elliott. She's also the First African woman to be featured in XXL Magazine. [7]

Kasumba emceed Beyoncé's concert in South Africa, [8] and has been a judge at the BET awards, South Africa Music Awards and Hype Magazine Hip Hop Awards.

Kasumba is also a singer and songwriter who has performed at Alicia Key’s Banquet and performed backup vocals for award-winning albums. [9]

Kasumba appeared on the cover of Black, Mania, Y! Naija, Genevieve and more recently the June 2014 edition of Exquisite Magazine. [10]

Community work

She is the owner and co-founder of Harambe Africa, which aims to link African Youth together through hip hop music. [11]

Leslie Kasumba is the head of Channel O Africa, a position she has held since 2011.

Related Research Articles

Hip hop music has been popular in Africa since the early 1980s due to widespread African American influence. In 1985 hip hop reached Senegal, a French-speaking country in West Africa. Some of the first Senegalese rappers were M.C. Lida, M.C. Solaar, and Positive Black Soul.

Counting Headz: South Afrika's Sistaz in Hip Hop is a 49-minute documentary film that explores South African hip hop culture through the stories of women in hip hop. It was shot in 2006 and completed post-production in 2007. The film was directed and produced by South African filmmaker, Vusi Magubane, and Canadian filmmaker, Erin Chen-ying Offer.

Sarah-Jane Crawford is an English television and radio presenter, actress, voice-over artist, and DJ best known for her radio work with Hits Radio and formerly with BBC Radio 1Xtra, and television work with E! Network, ITV2 on The Xtra Factor, BBC and Channel 4. Crawford has also presented and appeared a number of shows for the Disney Channel and MTV. Crawford has been a vegan since 2015 and released a vegan app called Viappi in November 2017.

The Channel 0 Emcee Africa tour is a tour that is sponsored by Sprite. It was associated with Emcee Africa - The Battle Chronicles, a talent show televising the competition. It was a continent-wide search for the premier freestyle MC/Rapper. The tour started in Accra, Ghana, and then went through Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, Nairobi, Kenya, Luanda, Angola, Lagos, Nigeria and Johannesburg, South Africa. Gaborone, Botswana was included in the second season, while Luanda, Angola and Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania were cut from the tour.

Channel O Africa Music Video Awards, once known as Spirit of Africa Music Video Awards, are Pan-African music awards organised by South Africa -based Channel O television channel. The awards were first held in 2003 under the name Reel Music Video Awards. Since 2005 the awards have been held annually. The winners are voted by Channel O's viewers across the continent.

Jaqee Musical artist

Jaqueline Nakiri Nalubale, also known as Jaqee, is a musician born in Kampala, Uganda. In 1990, she immigrated to Sweden, where she began her musical career. She describes herself as a "musical chameleon", having no single musical style.

C-Real (rapper) Ghanaian rapper

Cyril-Alex Gockel, known by his stage name C-Real, is a Ghanaian rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, writer and poet. In 2009, he won the Ghanaian edition of the Channel O Sprite Emcee Africa talent show and finished second at the show's finals. He is regarded as one of the leading hip-hop artists in Ghana. He was featured on "Next Up", a song from Coptic's mixtape The Rising Stars of Gh Vol 1 (2012).

Toke Makinwa Nigerian media personality

Toke Makinwa is a Nigerian radio personality, television host, vlogger, lifestyle entrepreneur and author. Toke is known for hosting The Morning Drive on Rhythm 93.7 FM and for her YouTube vlog series Toke Moments. She released her book On Becoming in November 2016.She is one of the top 5 African female show hosts.

Toolz Nigerian radio presenter

Tolu Oniru, popularly known as Toolz, is a Nigerian radio personality, talk show host, and presenter. She is best known for hosting The Midday Show on The Beat 99.9 FM.

Lillian Mbabazi is a Rwandan-Ugandan recording artist and entertainer. She was born in Uganda to Rwandan Parents. According to Ugandan A&R manager Bryan Morel, Lilian's music style is neo-soul associated with R&B Band tendencies. She was a member of Blu*3. In 2014, she was one of the featured artists in the second season of "Coke Studio Africa".

Flavia Tumusiime is a Ugandan actress, radio and television host, voice-over artist, emcee and author of 30 Days of Flavia. She presents a mid-morning radio show on 91.3 Capital FM radio in Kampala, a former co-host of Morning @ NTV on NTV Uganda where she also doubles as a news anchor on NTV Tonight news and is a VJ for Channel O. She played the role of Kamali Tenywa in Nana Kagga's television series, Beneath The Lies - The Series from 2014 to 2016 and has co-hosted the Guinness Football Challenge.

Boitumelo Thulo, popularly known as Boity, is a South African television personality, rapper, actress, businesswoman and model. In 2019, Thulo was named as one of Forbes Africa's 30 Under 30 for her contribution in the music and entertainment sector.

Dash Radio is a digital radio broadcasting platform with over 80 radio stations. These stations are curated by DJs, radio personalities, musicians, etc. The platform includes partner stations curated by Snoop Dogg, Kylie Jenner, Lil Wayne, Tech N9ne, Borgore, B-Real of Cypress Hill, and others. Dash Radio has no subscription fees and is commercial-free.

Lalla Hirayama South African Actress, television host and model

Lalla Hirayama is a Japanese—South African television host, actress, dancer and model. Best known for her current work as one of 5 hosts of the live celebrity news show V Entertainment on DStv channel Vuzu as their longest serving host, a judge on South Africa's Got Talent and host of her show Lalla Land on M-net Movies channel.

Relebogile Mabotja is an actress, presenter, radio host, singer, producer, writer, musical director and is currently based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Lumix Da Don Ugandan rapper

Patrick Lumumba, known professionally as Lumix Da Don, was a Ugandan rapper, record producer, founder and CEO of Valley Curve Recordz based in Ntinda, Kampala.

Michelle Dede Nigerian Actress

Michelle Dede is a Nigerian freelance television presenter and actress. She co-produced the film Flower Girl, starred in the television series Desperate Housewives Africa and the 2017 drama thriller What Lies Within.

Nadia Nakai South African rapper

Nadia Nakai Kandava, is a South African rapper, songwriter and television personality.

Kasumba is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

References

  1. ↑ Kundai, Keith. "Lee Kasumba: From Y to O". www.expatriate.co.za. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  2. ↑ Francesca Uriri. ""My parents expected me to be an academic…": Leading Ladies Africa speaks to @LeeKasumba , Head, Channel O". ynaija.com. Y! Naija. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  3. ↑ Musoke-Nteyafas, Jane. "1 On 1 With Ugandan Radio & TV Presenter, Magazine Editor Lee Kasumba". ourmusiq.com. ourMusiq.com.
  4. ↑ Uriri, Francesca. "Leading Ladies Africa speaks to @LeeKasumba , Head, Channel O". ynaija.com/. YNaija. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "Emcee Africa 2 finals". africanhiphop.com. AfricanHipHop. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  6. ↑ Ameyaw, Debrah. "Channel O welcomes Lee Kasumba and features D Black in Africa Dreaming project". ameyawdebrah.com/. www.ameyawdebrah.com. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "The Queen of Joburg". xxlmag.com. XXL Magazine.
  8. ↑ Musoke-Nteyafas, Jane. "1 On 1 With Ugandan Radio & TV Presenter, Magazine Editor Lee Kasumba". ourmusiq.com. Ourmusiq.com. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  9. ↑ Musoke-Nteyafas, Jane. "1 On 1 With Ugandan Radio & TV Presenter, Magazine Editor Lee Kasumba". ourmusiq.com/. ourmusiq.com. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "Leslie Kasumba of Channel O covers Exquisite Magazine's 'Women in Music' issue". lobatanafrica.com.
  11. ↑ Musoke-Nteyafas, Jane. "1 On 1 With Ugandan Radio & TV Presenter, Magazine Editor Lee Kasumba". ourmusiq.com/.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.