Astar sat down with Mwafrika.com to try and shed light on what was wrong with the version published in the Buzz, and clarify the issues raised. In the process, the Kisima Award winner gives us a glimpse into what his life has been like, and the message he’s out to send.

In this first part, Astar addresses the question of his name, his mission and his relationship with his parents.

Mwafrika.com: Let’s start with why you did the interview with Buzz in the first place.
Astar: Why? Because I have a story to tell. I believe there are over a million young people who needed to hear what I have to say. I saw this as a moment to change this (edition of Buzz) from a tabloid to an inspirational thing. For me, God has made it very clear that my strength is in telling my story – I have nothing to hide.

M: Alright, how did the interview go?
A: So I sat down with (Muchiri), and I was very direct with him. I told him the painful, but I also told him the other side. We talked about my life before Christ, and my life after Christ. But clearly, they were only interested in the juicy stuff. And sometimes the Jesus stuff is not juicy, to be honest.

M: Specifically?
A: (Going question by question) For example, why do you call yourself Astar? I explained it to him over and over again, even opening a Bible to show him Matthew 5:16. I explained how before I got saved, A-star was a grade above 90% (as explained in the interview), but that I kept the name for two reasons – one, because I still strive for perfection in my music, but on top of that, I got the meaning of the word Astar from the Bible – the light that leads to the light. That my job is to tell guys about Christ, by keeping my eyes on Him. That’s what Astar means, not what he said. I mean, it’s true, the explanation he gave, but it wasn’t all of it. That’s not who I am now, that’s just the shallow meaning I had (before).

M: Go on.
A: He asked, tell me a bit about yourself. Well, I did. I’m a guy who grew up in a wealthy family, had the best things in life, and it’s not something I’m ashamed of. But that’s not me, that’s not ‘tell me about yourself’, know what I mean? I told him how my life really was, how I was a very ‘wrong’ person, partied constantly, how that’s all I did for like two years of my life. I spoke about how irresponsible I was, how I would skive school and all that.  Not that I’m proud of it, but I wanted him to understand how negative my life was before I met Christ. I told him how my music started even before then, as a secular producer. And I felt like he didn’t bring out all that in the interview, he didn’t talk about my beginnings, the wrong life I came from.

M: I get you.
A: Let me clear up the issue of my internship at Barclays. It’s not that I didn’t like working there, or doing an 8-5 job as implied in the interview. I mean, that’s what I do now – I probably work an 8-7 shift actually! But working at Barclays made me realize I was called to do music, to transform the music industry. It wasn’t, as implied, that I was just tired of working and quit.

M: What did you do after you quit?
A: The answer Muchiri wrote to that question was wrong. That’s not when I joined the music industry – I’d been doing music from before. After I quit, I actually got into depression, which I even told him about. This is something young guys can relate to – you know what you’re called for, but your folks don’t understand. That was the depression part. Which brings me to the question of what my parents did after I quit.

M: Yeah, did they actually kick you out as the interview says?
A: It wasn’t like that at all. My parents tried to channel me, even asked me to get serious with music if that’s what I wanted to do. But my lack of Christ and my lack of focus meant I didn’t listen. I even met BMac around this time, tried to do music together, nothing happened. It got so bad, and that was the reason I went to Coast (which is alluded to in the interview). At that point I was so low that the only option I had was Christ. And that’s what happened to me at the coast. But even after I came back, my parents were hesitant, and I can’t blame them for that. As far as they’d known me, I’d said many times before that I’d change and it never happened. I can’t blame for just adopting a wait and see approach.

M: Did things change with your parents?
A: The reason why I told Muchiri that whole story about my parents and their reaction to my (errant) ways was so that I could tell the other side. After I’d seen trouble as I’d seen, and after my life was turned around, I was able to go back and ask them to forgive me. And that was the whole point of that story which he didn’t bring out – seek restoration. For the first time in my life, I have a mother that I can relate to. We talk about everything, and it’s a real relationship. Both my parents are born again, and they know what God has done in my life. Restoration happens with God.

[In Part 2, Astar talks about his recovery from depression and beginnings in music, to his plans for the future, including the track he’s done with secular artist Pam. CLICK HERE ]

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