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The urban gospel scene in this region has come a long way. Today you can turn up your radio and bump your head to any one of the countless acts representing for Christ. From Rufftone to Ringtone, Red Eye to SK Blue, Esther Wahome to Esther Kalunde – it’s a sumptuous musical smörgåsbord.
Yet to fully appreciate and understand today’s musical delicacies, there is need to cast our eyes on the trailblazers who paid an awesome cost to beat a path that others could follow. Talk of Pete Odera and HART. Talk of Five Alive and Limit X. In the same breath you must mention The Boyz (later Safari), Izzo, Milele, TTBC and Victory Team.
 But as regards Holy Hip Hop, it would be near blasphemous if the name Rapp Community wasn’t brought up. This posse arguably did more for the genre than most, not only putting it on the map, but also widening its reach and appeal. And as is common for trailblazers, many of them pay a high price for their daring.
MWAFRIKA.COM caught up and chatted with Big Kev (Kevin Ombajo), founder member and leader of Rapp Community, and director of Tru Blaq Entertainment. “From the beginning I knew that God had earmarked me to be a leader. To be a leader and a trailblazer” Poignant words from a young man who admits that there had been various prophecies on his life as regards his destiny – both pre and post salvation. Big Kev gave his life to Christ in 1993 while finishing off his studies at St. Mary’s School. Soon after, as his search for meaning and purpose intensified, he got involved at his local assembly, Nairobi Lighthouse Church. It wasn’t long before his desire to get into programs and event organizing came to the fore. He soon got involved with LYFE for Kids, a street children’s rehabilitation program with the Langata Youth Fellowship. This program got him his first taste of recognition, receiving a full page feature in the Daily Nation newspaper. In 1994, a concert at the Nyayo National Stadium brought together a number of Nairobi’s top performing artists – including Victory Team, TTBC, Clip and CBN. Various rap artists who performed with these groups met up and considered forming a ragtag association. They included Big Kev, Big Ted (of the Main Event Company) and Circuite (of the “Manyake” fame). Others were Joe Kuria, Jimmy Okungu, John Ngugi, Brian Sambili (Soulchild – no connection to Souldchild Records) and Nairobi’s first female MC, MC LC (Linda Chemtut).
Rapp Community
Over the next couple of years Big Kev and Rapp Community gained fame for their hard-hitting and uncompromising style of hip-hop, which not only endeared them to Nairobi’s youth, but allowed them to influence how East Africans would treat hip hop.
Their very first exclusive concert was held in 1996 at RAMCO Court to a small audience of roughly 60 people. Highly encouraged, their resolve was strengthened to sell their message more aggressively to the masses.
One of their defining moments came in the same year when they met up with Glory Tabernacle’s Nigerian minister, Pastor Wale. By the time he opened up his doors to this young ministers, his assembly had just over 300 members. This steadily grew as he allowed them, together with other trailblazers Pete Odera, Izzo and Divine, to hold monthly concerts. These became immensely popular, especially since they were free, enabling church membership to more than triple. Rapp Community’s stature grew day by day.
During this period, Kev proceeded to USIU to pursue his undergraduate studies. As he got entrenched in campus life, he had the good fortune of competing in and winning the 1996 Mr. University crown. This enabled him to travel to Japan to represent his country; a trip that he believes was as profound as it was life-changing. It is there that he declares he came face-to-face with the science of event management, even realizing that one could make a career out of it.
"My Struggle"
During his flight back, he did something that he is convinced changed his life – he wrote a small booklet that he labeled “The Plan”. Akin to Adolf Hitler’s now infamous booklet, “My Struggle”, Kev wrote out the direction that he wanted his life to take, detailing all the things he wanted to accomplish.
He was pumped and full of energy, he felt like he finally understood his calling – if only his folks would have been more supportive. His father, in particular, was very disappointed with this new direction, and thought his son, whom he wanted to be a doctor, was wasting his life. This deterred him little, as he proceeded to link up with Big Kev, Leakey Odera and Dickson Ngunjiri to form Shilton Entertainment. Together, they organized highly successful 1998 Mr. and Mrs. University Paegant. Soon after Dimples Entertainment offered Kev a full-time job as General Manager, all while he was 25 years of age.
As his professional life seemed to pick up, his music career was about to receive a jolt. Rapp Community had grown immensely, now becoming larger than life. Their fame and popularity preceded them everywhere they went. Fresh from a 25-school ministry tour, they had led over 300 young men and women to Christ. Yet in the midst of all this, cracks in their own spiritual walk began to show. Unprepared for the fame, the proverbial bright lights seemed to blind some of them. Kev puts it this way:
"Stars In Our Own Eyes" “We seemed to become ‘stars’ in our own eyes. The more successful we became, the more we were targeted spiritually. Some of the group members couldn’t handle it.
“People begin to idolize you, and not what you preach. They want to meet you and get to know more about YOU.”
Sin was creeping at the door of some of their hearts, and without solid spiritual cover, some begun to fall into sin.
It was after a breakthrough concert at the KICC amphitheatre, attended by well over 2,000 people, that the wheels begun to fall off. Rapp Community were excommunicated from their assembly, Glory Tabernacle. By mid 1997 Rapp Community had become synonymous with Christian rap in this country. Touring extensively and spreading the Gospel to countless young people, no doubt they were at the apex of their ministry.
Even after they were excommunicated from their assembly, they kept trudging on. Very uncharacteristically of young men, they made a conscious and mature decision not to leave the church. They might not have been involved in active ministry, but that would not stop them from sitting in the back benches of an assembly they called home. They carried on their ministry outside the mentorship of their church.
Nonetheless their stint in the cold didn't last too long, and two months later they were re-instated.
Not long after, certain issues that had been bubbling under began to come to the fore. A group their size (8 members), peppered with so many talented individuals and colorful characters was bound to have some friction, and as the group came under ever-increasing scrutiny from their fans and the church community, cracks began to emerge. 1998 saw the group's disintegration begin.
Outsiders had gotten more and more interested in the group, and in 1998 producer Ted Josiah (formerly with HART) approached Circuite to record him as a solo act. He became the very first artist that Ted was to record. (Interestingly, Ted had written music and made tracks for Circuite that were eventually used to catapult the career of urban music pioneer Hardstone.) Joe Kuria and John Ngugi were next, also approached by Ted Josiah. Pete Odera then spoke with Soulchild and MC LC with a view to recording them. It was at this time that media personality Jimmi Gathu also made an offer to be the group's manager.
With so many forces pulling them in different directions, loyalties became divided. Soon the group was on its knees. Enter Mobb Jalia . Big Kev spearheaded their re-emergence under this new moniker, retaining only Joe Kuria, Circuite, John Ngugi and himself. This leaner outfit functioned more cohesively, and was able to carry on the ministry of Rapp Community.
“Mobb Jalia became very successful. We toured and ministered quite a bit and eventually we became bigger than Rapp Community ever was. We even got invitations to go and minister in the U.S”.
Nonetheless the foundations of this new group had been set by Rapp Community, and the issues inherent in that group found their way into Mobb Jalia. Some of its members lived a life not in conformity with the Gospel they preached, and the church was acutely aware of this. Slowly but surely the body of believers became more suspicious of this group, and persecution set in from different quarters; eventually getting them banned from different assemblies.
In a slight indictment of a church body that is sometimes a little over-eager to shoot it's wounded, Kev asks:
“If your own support system turns against you, if they don't support you, if they don't try correct you when they think you have gone wrong – where are you supposed to turn?”
Frustrated, bitter and disillusioned, Kev sat in a restaurant one day and made a decision not to take part in the industry anymore. He might not have made a conscious choice to backtrack on his walk, but the process was already set in motion. Slowly he began to drift, and soon he indulged heavily in all the vices he preached against.
Interestingly, his initial bravado in taking the gospel to clubs and raves became his Achilles heel. Unbeknown to him, the time he had spent evangelizing the lost in their territory had opened him up to a lifestyle of revelry and carousing. The moment the wheels began to fall off in his life, it was not that hard for him to get involved in that very same lifestyle. Image
(Older and wiser for the experience, today Kev pleads with Christian entertainers to exercise much wisdom in their ministry. They might have the most noble of intentions as they organize night gigs or head off to ‘minister' in clubs - but as the old adage goes, ‘The road to Hell is paved with good intentions”.)
Even though outwardly he appeared to be ‘living it up', the emptiness in Kev's life was killing him. It took him a good three years of experiencing spiritual wilderness before he came to his senses. And if you reckon God has no sense of irony or humor, consider this – Kev's moment of truth occurred while he was at a club. Whilst ‘enjoying' himself at the Carnivore one evening, he distinctly felt the voice of the Lord convict him, saying ‘If you do not stop this, you will surely die'. The conviction on his heart was heavy, yet it took him a while to make a firm commitment.
That commitment came in 2005 when Kev wholly rededicated himself to Christ.
Big Kev, now a member at Nairobi Lighthouse Church , is now married to a beautiful lady called Tracy , and together they have a baby daughter named Shana (Hebrew for God's gracious gift). He credits her as being a big influence in his life.
“She is very seriously born again and committed to her walk. She is also very soaked in the Word of God. Together we are learning to work out our salvation a day at a time.”
Of his walk he says,
“Now I realize that I have a fire in my belly; God has definitely set me aside to do his work. But I have to live my life a day at a time.“
He says that he has done a lot of growing up since his days with Rapp Community, and that his take on Christianity is more mature. He feels less pressure to conform his life to the expectations of the masses as he has a good awareness and knowledge of not only himself, but also of what the Word of God says about how he should conduct his life. Even with its many challenges, Big Kev admits that it's a walk of faith – a walk that he is determined to finish.
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1"Sales & Marketing"
at Friday, 17 September 2010 09:37
Habari Guys!
I need to see you guys on a quick mission to see if it can marterialise.
I need estimates on fireworks advertising and road show...ASAP.
regards
Kobia
0722 705983
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