You might know him as Mr. Finje, others refer to him MC Chizi, and still others go with his stage name, Mr. T. To his parents though, he is simply Tony Mwangi. But by no means are his achievements, musically speaking, simple, as he has been quite a busy man. The huge reception he got for his debut single, Finje Finje, is probably testament enough that this is a young man going places.

Born 25 years ago in Samburu, Mr. T started rapping while still in primary school. His older brother corrupted a golden bell hymn song and gave it a hip hop touch. Taking the cue , he found himself corrupting the song further by adding; subtracting and rhyming, giving it a new lingo altogether. Rather impressed with his antic, he pressed further with his gift right through high school.

“My brother would have become big” he says, “He was lyrically gifted and had a flow that was quite captivating. Unfortunately, people did not appreciate rap at that time and getting a recording studio was quite a task.”

His brother gave up but for him, he was just to unwrapping. All through high school, his talent gave him a voice, platform and position making him quite a darling among his peers.

Salvation came after High School. A skeptic to the core, his skin crawled to the mention of Pentecostals for he was deep in Catholism. He saw Pentecostals as pretenders and doubted the power of the Holy Spirit they claimed existed.   This changed when he attended a crusade only to see a blind person get healed. Shocked and unable to comprehend what he saw, his cynic views were thawed as he left the place with a deep conviction. He was later to accept Christ in his local church, Tabernacle of Praise, Narok.

How he got called into campus to study with two points less the pass mark can only be divine, he says.

The song Finje Finje was a result of campus life. Though people back at home knew their son was strong in faith, he was living another life here. His new found freedom saw him compromising and crossing the line of the faith he professed. After going out for partying and drinking, he found his conscience holding his hand for guilt trips, wondering why he was living a double life.

Still, despite his devious life, he found himself talking to people about God and asking them to repent. His Saul to Paul moment came when, still drunk; found himself telling a ‘sinner’ they were raving with to repent. His conscience was pricked to the core after that incident and his restoration journey began in earnest.

Finje Finje which he concurs is a declaration song, embracing his new life, is a true testimony.

That was just the start of his right-living provoking lyricism, as he followed this jam up with more, including Kanisa Duniani, Jesus Business and Hidho, all sounding a no-holds-barred wake up call to the church.

Apart from his blunt approach towards sin in his lyrics, something else that distinguishes him from the regular rap artiste is that most of his collaborations have diversified beats. Therefore don’t be surprised to find a kapuka, lingala, raga or benga beat in his yet to be released album The Epistle, Chapter One. Plans are underway to do a DVD launch too.

The Geology student who is concluding his studies soon is working on rebranding himself after school to reach more with his music and merchandise. Mr T, or Minister of Righteousness wraps up thus:

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