Award winning hip hop star, Selwyn Ngwenya is now a pastor. Known in the music circles as Mr Selwyn, the 43 year old is a new man. He has not only changed his ways, but his name as well. Now the shake it hit maker answers to pastor Selwyn after accepting Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior.
He said that he took a six year break from music to focus on finding himself and getting closer to God. ‘I’m now a born again christian and all those years away from the music industry meant finding myself and God’s love. People need to know who they are because if you don’t know who you are then you will never know where you are going’ he said about his life changing decision.
Selwyn who is a member of the Ministry in Kingdom Cathedral in Krugersdorp in the West rand, loves his transformation. He shares that he is a peace-keeper at church and loves each and every moment of it. ‘Most people tend to depend on music, which is something I do as a hobby and because I have the talent’, says the father of two. ‘At one stage I was working an an insurance broker as a call centre because I believed that I had to work hard and be independent. In order to live like a king, you have to work hard.’
Selwyn released his first album, Formula, in 2004 and he went on to win Best Hip Hop Album award at the South African Music Awards.
In making a comeback, Selwyn released his third album, Foundation, in 2009 before he went on self-imposed exile. ‘Things where terrible. Everything abut that album was horrible. The marketing team, the manager and the distributors were not that supportive,’says Selwyn.
‘I have children and when I realised that nothing was working for me, I decided to take a break from music. I found a job to out food on the table and it worked for me. It gave me some time to find myself and now I also preach at church and give motivational talks to young people’
