It’s not every day that you come
across people who are not only involved in the media industry, but have done so
much in the industry that they are media.
In 2010 Mpho Lehlongwa who is also known as ‘Black Hippy’ began his
interesting career path within the media industry, kick starting his career as
a youth researcher for SideWalk Productions. He then went on to trying content
producing and he was trained in TV. Admitting that the media industry has its
ups and downs, he however managed to stick through it and 2014 is now his year
of Journalism as he is now the entertainment journalist for the on line
Magazine Live Mag. I had the opportunity to sit down with him and to find out
more about who he is in media industry and this is what he had to say.
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For 5 months now Mpho Lehlongwa has
been the Entertainment journalist for Live Mag, besides meeting his very good
friend Thabiso Molatlhwa who is also his photographer he also says that the
best part of his job is the fact that he gets to meet dope people and he meets
a lot of celebrities through his interviews .
“There are definitely many perks
to being an Entertainment journalist such as meeting interesting people as well
as going out to a lot of epic events”, however he also appreciates the fact
that he has been given the opportunity to work with great mentors who have
guided him along the way. One of his mentors being Siphiwe Mpye; who is the
founder of Random Window as well as the associate editor for GQ Magazine.
Music videos also form part of his
media industry journey , his cousin Mzwakhe
Dlamini who is an Editor and Director is one of the people who introduced him
into working with music videos and he was also given the opportunity to work
with AKA’S music video , ‘I want it all’. Mpho also had the opportunity to work
with F-Spot music videos, however mainly doing Grips.
He admits that he has made a couple
of bad decisions along the way; he also says that, “the media industry sells a lot of dreams; therefore you may end up
making a couple of mistakes”. However he has grown within the industry and
is more hands on when making certain decisions even referring to some advice.
Despite some of his mistakes, he does not regret any of the decisions he has
made over the years.
Mpho has been in the media industry
for a long time and there is no stopping him now. When I asked him does he see
himself switching career paths he said,
“No, I believe I am media, I live and breathe media at all angles”. He is
even starting up an events company with his close friends and hopes to move
into the events space. He also has future plans of furthering his career in
journalism adding documentaries into the mix.
Mpho is in the streets all the time
and he works within an industry that also plays a part in influencing our street
culture, he believes that although there are levels to our street culture, it
is really healthy with talent. “There are
a lot of fresh ideas coming up in terms of music and fashion; even corporates
are looking into investing in the culture. It has become more than just the
streets but has turned into a whole movement.” He believes that there are a
lot of elements within the street culture for example, art, music and fashion
therefore we can’t really say who is leading our street culture because of the
elements which all contribute to our street culture.
When he isn’t working he is usually
out with friends, partying, spending time with his loved ones and working on
his social life. Although he goes out as often as he can, his favourite hangout
place is Kitchners as he is constantly there.
In terms of his own personal style,
he says he doesn’t believe that he has style as he thinks he is pretty average,
he is more of your track pants, t-shirts and Nikes kind of guy. He keeps it as simple as possible but may
follow a couple of trends here and there because he would much rather have a
style that he can maintain. Besides the fact that he cannot live without his
cell phone, he also believes that t-shirts and watches are a must have for any
closet as they make life much easier. And for our winter season he advises that
we all should have our kick game right, and rather than investing in some
leather jackets we should consider Trench coats, scarves, hoodies and sweaters.
Although he claims that he is a
simple guy and sticks to basics when shopping he would love to invade the closets
of Kanye West and AKA as he says their swag is on point and is just too fresh.
He would also like to raid Siyabonga “Scoop” Ngwekazi‘s closet mainly for his
kicks as “his sneaker collection is on
steroids”
He advises those who are willing to
get into the media industry to be very fit as this is a tough industry with no
favours. You have got to be fit for the shots that may be fired as well as
equally fit for the compliments.
Mpho Lehlongwa has a come a long
way within the media industry and plans on taking it even further, in the next
five years he hopes to be well recognised in the journalism industry by winning
an African Journalism award and watching his Hippy Innerviews blossom into
something big and create more platforms.
Interesting Facts
Mphos favourite local street brands
are
- · Petrol or Milk
- · AugistineGold
- · And Pyrex Street wear
Follow him on Twitter @Thy_Black_Hippy
Catch with Black Hippy Innerviews @ www.livemag.co.za
And do follow Live Mag on twitter @LiveMagSa
Photography: Thabiso Molatlhwa
Twitter: @Ric3hard
Happy Shopping Guys
XoXo
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