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By Sheila Kimani (@sheilakimm)
Never one to shy away from controversy, Jackson Makini a.k.a Prezzo built his brand and traversed music generations to become one of the few ‘Old skool’ artistes resonating with modern audience.
His appearance on the Big Brother Show pushed him to the limelight again making him highly relevant in today’s showbiz.
Born and raised in Nairobi’s Eastleigh estate, Prezzo was exposed to music at a very early age. Through his Makini school education, Prezzo once admitted that, school gave him a hard time.
"As much as being in school was fun, it also had its rough patches. Mathematics posed a serious challenge to me and would just dampen my resolve to excel in school,” he said.
At age 16, he once ran away from school to stay with his party friends in a bid to avoid the rigorous study demands made by his mother. Strict parenting and a reality check had him complete his form four education.
After school, Prezzo was free to do as much music as he wanted. During this time, he released his “Naleta Action” album whose award winning tunes like: 'Naleta Action', 'Let’s Get Down' 'Mahangaiko', 'Leo ni Leo', 'Mimi na Wewe', 'Mafans' and many others which made his name and swag a household name.
Around the same time he released a ballad “Tazama Mbele" with Sheila Mwanyigha fuelling rumors of their relationship. His video P.R.E.Z.Z.O was among the first expensive Kenyan videos estimated to be worth Kshs. 500,000 back in 2006 and his lifestyle was the kind upcoming musicians craved for.
With the new generation taking over Kenyan music, Prezzo took a hiatus from the showbiz scene making appearances and flaunting his swag at events up till he was called to represent Kenya in the Big Brother Show. His life in the house got fans glued to the show with many Kenyans hoping that he would win. Prezzo emerged second runners up making him the first Kenyan to ever get that far up in the Big Brother show.
Never one to shy off, Prezzo has built a musical empire and mentored upcoming artistes through his CMB (Cash Money Brothers) outfit while he continues to be a force that many upcoming artistes look up to.
It is for this reason he is our MCM today.
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