You might know him from his inspirational gospel songs but some know him for his past criminal life.
Singer Daddy Owen, before he picked up a microphone and decided to make lovely gospel music, was a hardcore criminal in Umoja Estate.
In an interview with Kiss FM, the singer shared why he has squinted eyes saying that it’s because of a beating he got from an angry audience he was trying to rob in his thieving days after High School.
“My friends and I had planned to steal in a matatu, but things did not turn out well as the people in that matatu beat me up. I came to Nairobi from shags, met different people here, and as a young person, I wanted to fit in the crew. I joined a gang that we used to call ‘Mbogi’, and our work was to rob from people. I don’t like this story but I want to inspire someone who will hear it. I became a thug for two to three years,” he said.
Killings
Police started killing members of the gang one by one but this didn’t shake Daddy Owen.
“Most of my friends were killed, others burned down to ashes but I still did it. You know it is only serious when it happens to you? There were no phones and so my friends realised that there were askaris in that car and left without my knowledge. Like we had planned, I started the mission of stealing from the back seats but I was caught and badly beaten. That is when my eye was pierced,” he said.
He realized that he needed to change his life or he’ll also be killed just like his friends.
“I realised I needed to change my life as well as behaviour. I had fought so hard to fit in the gang, but all of them did not come to visit me in hospital. The most supportive person was my brother Rufftone, who completely stood by me because my dad was away, working to keep the family going. He was the big brother and he really helped me. He mentored me and my music journey was inspired by him. Immediately after I was discharged from hospital, I got saved,” Owen said.
