Contemporary rapper to thrill fans this weekend

By Jeckonia Otieno

A sin of getting a child out of wedlock made Sean Simmonds know God - and take up gospel ministry as a career.

This career has brought Simmonds, alongside three other contemporary gospel music artistes, to Africa and is set to perform at the Mavuno Dome this Sunday afternoon.

The event, dubbed The Move Tour, is expected to be one of the biggest gospel music shows of recent times, according to the organisers.

The quartet's other renowned artistes Jahaziel, Da Truth and The Ambassador are expected to  bring their contemporary rap to Nairobi barely a year after another group, 116 Clique, from the US thrilled fans at the same venue last year.

Born in Toronto, Canada,  to parents of West Indian descent -his mother is from Trinidad and Tobago while his father is Jamaican - Simmonds grew up in a Christian family and says although he had the opportunity to do secular music - which he and others in the team call the 'mainstream' - he chose the gospel path.

To prune me

“I had an opportunity but God had to prune me and prepare me for what was to come,” says Simmonds, who is using his music to spread the gospel around the world.

He started his ministry at the age of 17 in Atlanta, Georgia.

God's pruning came in terms of him impregnating his girlfriend before marriage. According to his Christian upbringing, he knew this was sinful.

But what he learnt after the pregnancy 'opened' his eyes and made him a better Christian.

He realised the true colour of people whom he had thought were his good friends.

“I had just joined college, still young not yet fully prepared for life and it happened, my girlfriend got pregnant, I was going to be a father.”

Before he digested the news, his friends left him. He thought about how he was going to balance being a father and a student at the same time, but found it 'impossible'. He decided to deny responsibility.

“I disowned my son and the mother just to protect my face but later I realised I had done something quite wrong.”

At this point he sought God's forgiveness and went back to his girlfriend. He was forgiven and the two got married and have been blessed with two more sons while a daughter is on the way. They celebrate their tenth anniversary next February.

On the trends the world has taken today, Simmonds observes that most people, especially the youth, want to live a life full of fancy perceptions.

“I had always dreamed of coming to Africa just to see if the way the media back home portrays it  is true and I can tell you I have seen something entirely different,” he confesses.

A word of counsel to gospel singers - don't just see talent as sufficient but connection with God should be utmost.
Some of Simmonds' hits are True Story and It's Over. Currently, together with T Black, Simmonds runs Xist Music, a label that has signed the other three  artistes in the tour.