No mountain is too high for DJ Joozey

Tanzania’s DJ Joozey, has recorded another milestone after he wowed netizens last week with what can only be described as a record feat, and indeed, it so happens to be unprecedented in Tanzania and anywhere else in the world.

In case you are wondering the reference of this braggadocio introduction, well, prepare yourself to be dazzled.

DJ Joozey, real name Joseph Simion Misa, performed atop Africa’s highest mountain, which is also the world’s highest free-standing mountain, Mt Kilimanjaro.

The famed disc jockey said he played a 15-minute set 5,895 metres above sea level in a tweet posted on his social media account, accompanied by a video capturing every detail of the once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“I did it!! I played on Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest free standing mountain in world. 5,895 metres (19,341 ft) above sea level and 4,900 metres (16,100 ft) above its plateau base. Breaking the world record. I am the first man to ever play a 15min DJ set. GOD IS GOOD!” the DJ captioned the video clip of him on Kilimanjaro with his set-up.

The Beat reached out to DJ Joozey to understand the motive behind this daring attempt. “Playing on the mountain’s summit has been a longtime dream, something I have looked forward to conquering one day,” he said.

He added that he was also motivated by what Mt Kilimanjaro means and represents for Tanzania.

The government’s Chief Spokesperson, Gerson Msigwa, shared on his Instagram page a congratulatory message to the star. He said that what Joozey has done is the right way to market Tanzania to the world.

“This is how we brand our country,” Msigwa commented.

Joozey is one of Africa’s rising stars. The 27-year-old has been in the showbiz industry for just around five years, but within that span he has achieved what most only dream of.

Last year, the DJ was one of the few selected Africans to be featured in American rapper DJ Khaled’s album campaign for his “God Did” album.

Joozey has raised the bar and set the standard so high that he is now redefining what it means to be a DJ in a local setting.

In an earlier interview with The Beat, Joozey revealed the motive that drove him to the entertainment industry. “I involved myself in many economic activities that enabled me to take care of my family. When things got difficult while I was in Standard Seven, I told my family that I was quitting school to find work that would ensure my sister continued with her education and my family was well taken care of,” recalls Joozey.

This was the beginning of what is now a record-breaking career path.

However, it took guts and ambition to reach the top. The journey to success is never guaranteed, and that is exactly what Joozey faced when he embarked on the daunting trek.

His path to being one of the leading DJs in Tanzania and now arguably in the entire African continent started when Joozey decided to travel from Shinyanga to Dar es Salaam. He had no relatives; he had no one to look after him. To the struggling Joozey, Dar es Salaam was just another plan to fight poverty and improve his life. Little did he know that his efforts would someday make him a success story and an inspiration to many others.

It took determination and perseverance to achieve success. Joozey, who now uses some of the most sophisticated equipment on the market, started sharpening his skills by using a second-hand desktop that he purchased for about Sh90,000.

He then used the little knowledge he had acquired during the days he sold groundnuts to find his way around it. “I asked a friend to install ‘Virtual DJ for me so that I could play different songs. I actually learned the trick to using the Virtual DJ after spending a lot of time listening to multiple radio stations, specifically the ones that played songs for a long time, and I started getting interested in the way DJs were switching from one track to the next,” narrates Joozey.

Fast-forward to 2023, and Joozey is classified among the country’s crème de la crème of the entertainment trade. He performs weekly at various leisure joints in Dar es Salaam, and at times, you can catch him in the tourism capitals such as Dubai in the UAE.