MAC G | Uncancelable: the incredible rise

My first day inside the YFM building is like a scene from a movie. The studio is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I’m walking down the hallway but it feels like the whole world is rushing around me and I’m standing still. The place is busy, man.

“The phones don’t stop ringing. The staplers don’t stop stapling and the DJs don’t stop broadcasting. There’s a constant rumble of noise like thunderclouds rolling throughout the building. Even the work desks look like spaceships to me — nothing like the old school desk that holds the broadcasting equipment at JBCCR.  

“I walk around a corner and see a man and a woman further down the hall, kissing in the shadows. They notice me noticing them. The DJ pushes the woman off of him, pulls a crumpled R20 out of his pocket, and sends me to the store. On my way back I walk past a booth where a live recording is happening. The DJ seems joyous and ecstatic; somewhere between crying and laughing.

“A song is playing and he waves his hands in the air like a conductor. Next to him is an open can of beer. I look down to the floor and see the bottom of two shoes sticking out. They belong to the woman who is kneeling under the desk in front of him. He sees me seeing him and gives me a wink. I carry on down the hall and I see it all. People fighting. People f*****g. People drinking. People broadcasting. I think to myself, this place can’t be real. I smile, knowing that it is and that I am here now.”

Uncancelable — The Incredible Rise of Mac G is the story of a generation of black broadcasters who set out to define black history, but ended up becoming a part of it. This is done through the lens of Mac G, a man who would go on to redefine content for South Africa.

The story follows him from his upbringing in Venda, his time as a child star on television, the wild and unbelievable stories and legends from YFM, as well as his inglorious boot from the industry after his stint at Highveld. Read about how he went from rock bottom, with no money, no equipment and a newborn baby on the way with a woman he had recently met, to building the most followed platform on the continent.

In general, the title references Podcast and Chill’s unique business and content model. It is a salute to the platform’s ability to build a space of brutal honesty in a time of cancel culture. Specifically, it references a famous and often quoted speech Mac G once gave, where he declared the platform would not draw its support or ask for favours from corporate South Africa after a mass withdrawal of sponsors.

Mac G declared that only the sentiment of the fans would determine whether the platform lived or died. This has allowed the platform to consistently produce newsworthy interviews of substance. The dedication to the craft of interviewing and broadcasting is thoroughly explored in the book, with a clear picture painted of how the wild world of YFM in the early 2000s shaped the award-winning platform today.

To accomplish the title, Mac teamed up with Nikolaos Kirkinis, the best-selling author of The Curse of Teko Modise and several other published titles. More than a book about overcoming the odds, it is also a blueprint for the modern South African. Podcast and Chill has been famous for its ability to extract never-before-heard information from some of the nation’s and the world’s most powerful figures. Their dreams, fears, laughs, tears, hopes and wisdom are all captured in the book.

Reading the book gives one a feeling of the despair and tragedy this country has endured over the past few years, as well as the hope and promise it holds for the future. As the quote towards the beginning of the book holds: “This is not a show, but a movement. And it will probably one day be seen as the definition of a generation.”

Uncancelable is available at selected Exclusive Books and Bargain Books stores around the country and in Namibia and Botswana. The book is featured on the Exclusive Books Christmas List 2024, a recognition of all the top titles released in the year. Only about 200 copies remain of the limited first edition of the book, so hurry and get yours before shops run dry. This is a book that will keep you glued from cover to cover, and change the way you see the country around you.

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