Since time immemorial radios have been like the rising and setting sun for many generations. They were tools of status for those who could own one. They were held in reverence in the households that had them. Heck they even had their own special clothing and were off limits and could only be touched by specific people in that house hold namely the father. Touching that radio was taboo.
These were the times where people would gather around the local shopping centre to listen to news at the one radio in a 10KM radius near a posho mill that was next to the only guy who stocked fresh bread. Those were the times everyone including government ministers would get the news too from the Radio – it’s a funny thing because as I was reading the Making of an African Statesman the writer recalls that when Mzee died – most government ministers got the news via radio and rushed to statehouse after that. The few that didn’t were lucky enough to have phones in their houses so they received phone calls. I can only imagine waking up one day and you are preparing to go to work and you forget to turn on the radio only for you to show up then the HR gives you a weird look. You might wonder if you have a stain on your shirt, a bean stuck between your teeth or you reek of last night’s shenanigans. All this only for them to ask
“Didn’t you listen to the radio this morning?”
You would respond with something as nonchalant as “No, why?”
She would then sulk a bit then usher you into her office and let you know that they announced after the 7 AM news that you were let go. She will be so succinct with it. It will bear the same heaviness as a death announcement done on the radio only this time it is your career that’s dead. You would head back home tail between your legs, or maybe you would head into the nearest bar and hold your head between your hands cussing that little machine and maybe nickname it the voice of death.
As for me, I grew up at a time when radio was king. It had yet to be dethroned by the likes of Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music and what have you. To me radio is nostalgic. I remember back when I was a fresh faced adolescent and just starting out high school the first things I knew I would miss back home apart from what I learnt would be chapatti and bread was radio. I am not old enough to remember KCB sundowners but I do remember a few gems we had back in my time (yes I will say that to sound old and wise).
So when I joined high school even though we had come into an era of “burning” CDs and carrying around USB sticks radio was still important because no one liked to play the same song on repeat like a heart broken 13 year old in 2025. So this is when my villain era started and I learned about this little gadget that was called a palito. This gadget changed everything and if you were anyone worth anything in high school it was an open secret that you had to own one even though they were illegal. Yeah censorship started way back. These items were so precious that people would risk their admission just to sneak them in, guys would sacrifice a month’s worth of pocket money just to own one and they guarded them with their life.
I remember every evening during preps you would find a whole class of teenage boys holding their heads like they were depressed 40 year olds going through a divorce and a child custody battle. But if you were keen enough all these guys had secretly wired the radios through their sweaters and were listening to their favourite shows. At the top of my mind these were the times we had the likes of Corine and the Jump Off on Homeboyz Radio, Rickdeez top 40 on Capital FM, and the ringer to bring it all together on Friday evening we had Silver Star with Gussy and Randy. Radio was not just entertainment for us it was a lifeline. Corine knew her stuff around music she was not just another voice airing out uninformed takes in and around music. She educated us and for some of us that’s where our love for Hip Hop evolved into an obsession.
Fast forward to now. Radio has been overtaken by the internet. Which is a good thing since it is more readily available and in some ways instant. But the internet, the internet has ruined radio for good and stolen away from the art of having well versed presenters replaced by social media celebrities whose lazy take at creativity is crafted around mediocre conversation. If you could package their creativity most of them would taste like the old TV box sitting in your store because you think you are going to move one day and do not want the hustle of packing.
I do not mean to attack radio presenters but having a comedian as a radio show host has turned radio into a joke. For example for most of us we have the luxury of saying fuck radio, and we can easily get our news online, listen to podcasts on topics we find interesting and curate our own playlists so that we never get bored. Then spend scrolling three thousand miles on our phones scouring the internet for anything interesting happening around us. But the thing is, even with internet penetration rapidly going radio has and probably will for a long time remain the medium with the widest reach.
Now, pair this with lazy presenters who regurgitate the same thing we see and read online turning them into topics of discussion. There are people out there who do not have an option and their minds have yet to be corrupted by social media. So why would a 60 year old man, shacked up in his house at 6AM turn on the radio to listen to someone rant about how “women are better at cheating than men” then being asked to call in to discuss. What exactly would this guy be saying? This is the same guy who will be stuck listening to “set it” and have no idea what’s going on all because a presenter somewhere heard it so much on TikTok and decided that it is what people want to hear.
Right now we are at the height of a revolution and apart from a passing mention (yes I do listen to radio sometimes) you will be flooded with the fake and forced laughter of two presenters making dry jokes and forcing a relationship that would get an F during a chemistry exam. They skirt around meaningful social issues to talk about things like who was caught where doing what. I am convinced that the only research they do is in the evening and follow trending topics to bring into their shows. This unfortunately will be the death of radio.
Radio should be an art. We need to go back to the time where it is the glorified mouthpiece of useful information. A time when you will turn on the radio and cross your fingers that you will not hear your job being announced unceremoniously. A time where presenters actually know their music and are not influenced by teenagers dancing on TikTok. In essence presenters have become lazy and complacent.
Or maybe just maybe someone brave enough should pour in a few billions (I am talking to all these mall building loot connoisseurs) and start up a radio station that bring back all the greats from back in the day and show this younger generation what radio used to be and what it can be.
It is time we bring back the lost art of radio.