At eight years old Phat Joe relocated with his family to the United States fleeing from the Apartheid regime. Over the next 12 years, Joe would school in the States as well as immersing himself in the US’s hip hop culture. In an interview with Mac G, the media personality shares how at 16-years-old he got his first DJ gig.
Phat Joe fell in love with hip hop at a very young age, and through this never dying love, determination, wit and hard work the radio DJ built an illustrious career for himself.
In 1994, after the election Phat Joe relocated back to South Africa with his parents. According to Briefly, in 1995 Joe joined the Mmabatho-based radio station, Radio Bop. Here he worked as the radio DJ for two years before joining youth based commercial station YFM in 1997. Phat Joe gained increased popularly known when he hosted a comedy show called The Phat Joe Show, in the early 2000’s. His comedy show was first held on e.tv, from 1999 to 2001 and then later on SABC1, from 2001-2005.
In addition to joining Radio Bop and YFM, the multihyphenate also joined Metro FM, Kaya FM, Heart 104.9 FM and Eastcoast radio.
Phat Joe while at Metro FM. Image via Instagram (@therealphatjoe).
In 2010, alongside Brenda Ngxolo he was announced as one of the new presenters of SABC1’s celebrity gossip show called The Real Goboza for the show’s fourth season. The radio DJ co-hosted the 17th Annual South African Music Awards alongside Bonang Matheba and was announced as the co-host of the 13th Annual Metro FM Music Awards, with actress Pearl Thusi.
In 2014 he was the host of the SABC1 dating reality show Take Me Out South Africa and in 2016 he began hosting the SABC3 breakfast show The Weekend Edition.
WHERE IS PHAT JOE NOW?
In 2017, a petition was created to remove Phat Joe from his radio gig at East Coat Radio. According to IOL the radio host had 77 complaints lodged against him with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of SA.
Again in 2019, Phat Joe raised some eyebrows when he made some homophobic comments live on air at Radio 2000.
Despite not being active on social media, Joe has in recent years hosted the The Real Housewives of Durban reunion, Temptation Island and the talk show Cheeky Palate, where he engages with celebrities and public figures on different topics.
Apart from work, the media personality seems to enjoy being a husband and father to his children.