Jeremiah Ndjoze
Windhoek-DJ Q-Base is an enigma to the Namibian entertainment scene – ever present yet always in the shadows.
Having successfully managed to carve a career, as a crossover crafter in radio broadcasting, event emceeing and deck-spinning, Q-Base is certainly one person everybody would like to know this festive season.
Sadly, though, while being out there entertaining is one of his biggest likes, his family remains his ultimate biggest love. To this end, in ‘Q-Baseville’ the festive season is mostly reserved for family.
“I was born in a big family with 26 siblings from my father’s side and eight from my mother’s, as such, this time of the year has always been the right time to touch base with most, if not all of them. Plus, I’ve got a nuclear family of my own so you can only imagine how much time I’ll have left for other activities outside this setup,” the Okahandja native reveals.
And verily, a quick glance at the man’s evident prominence versus his presence will point to the fact that Q-Base only does it the Q-Base way.
“I’ve always preferred to keep my private life private, and that includes ensuring that I strike a fair balance between spending quality time with the fam (family) and putting up a great show for folks out there,” Q-Base adds, but is mum on his marital status.
An extraordinary storyline – both positive and somewhat odd – envelops this 30-something-year-old father and entertainer. Whether this is unwittingly or deliberately cultivated is open to questions, but the inscrutability that surrounds him holds both advantages and disadvantages for the curiosity of the country’s soaring population of party enthusiasts.
Q-Base is a university dropout, who opted to stop hitting the books while in the second year of an accounting degree at the University of Namibia (Unam), to pursue his career in entertainment. It all started at Unam Radio in 2005 before joining one of Namibia’s biggest radio entertainment brands, Energy 100 FM in 2008.
“That’s when it got really crazy. I just couldn’t keep with the books anymore because my slots were demanding and the number of gigs were constantly increasing. I had to make a choice – fast,” Q-Base says.
Admittedly, his choice did not sit well with his parents, and even though today they are proud of the person he has grown into, they still feel he would have made more money as a chartered accountant.
“But money is not really what drives me. I’m driven by my passion. I have to love what I’m doing to enjoy what I’m earning,” Q-Base says, maintaining that if any of his children would like to pursue a career of any kind, he will not stand in their way but will support them.
According to the deejay, it is imperative that children are allowed to write their own ‘life stories’, provided that whatever they want to do is morally correct and within the confines of the law.
The career-driven deejay, who also had stints with Fresh FM and 99 FM, is however quick to indicate that he is not done with school yet, and that he will return to the lecture rooms, “as soon as he figures out what he wants to study”.
In 2014, he left his career at 99FM to help with the establishment of the now defunct, This TV television channel. He currently hosts the Zebra Crossing programme on Mixed FM.
“I’ll definitely be working for myself,” he says, predictably about his future.