Sal Masekela

Sal's unique ability and talent to connect sports, music and youth lifestyle has touched a chord with young audiences over the years, making him a distinctive voice for Gen-Y. His passion for sports has brought him to MTV, ESPN and Fox. But his future was really etched at an early age, when he began honing his love of showmanship while touring with his father, South African jazz great Hugh Masekela. He also became an avid snowboarder, skateboarder and surfer, which led him to answer phones at his favorite magazine that covered surfing, skating, snowboarding and BMX--Transworld. It was there he knew he had found his voice--and his niche.

Sal began his on-air career at MTV, where he not only made many fans but earned immense respect from athletes, making him the go-to guy for action sports. In 1998-2000, he cohosted the ever popular MTV Sports and Music Festival and MTV's Board Blast. He has also appeared as the cohost and commentator of ESPN's X2Day and The Life and Tony Hawk's Hawk Tour 2000/2001. Since, 1998 he has hosted ESPN's Winter and Summer X Games including ESPN's Imax's motion picture Ultimate X.

In addition to his hosting appearances, Sal has been a presenter and an emcee for the following awards shows: ESPN's Action Sports and Music Awards, Transworld's Rider Poll Awards, Surfrider Foundation Watermans Ball, Billabong's XXL Big Wave Awards and Surfer magazine's Surfer Poll Awards. It was his debut in the 1998 snowboarding documentary Snow Taxi that caught the attention of Fox execs, who hired him to cohost Fox Sports' half-hour lifestyle show Board Wild.

In addition to his entertainment career, Sal also went on to become the marketing director of the clothing and skateboarding company Planet Earth, and from there, he and his three best friends launched their own lifestyle-apparel-brand company, Alphanumeric (which combines urban music, skate, snow and surf).