Luminous is a young, talented and ambitious rapper and story writer who is driven by his love for God. He also has a love for young people. He has a desire to see Gods will being done in his community. We sat down with Luminous and this is what he had to say.

Who is Luminous?
I am a young boy who gets inspiration from the world and love to express whatever I sees through my art.
Is this all you do all the time?
No, we have also started a t-shirt line. We are also involved in evangelism within our community. I will also be starting school soon , I plan to study marketing.
Tell me about your T-shirt line
It’s called Nkulumane Boy apparel, the idea originated from us realising people would rock a Brooklyn T-shirt even though they were not from there. Some people would wear it because it looks cool, or because they know Jayz and B.I.G are from Brooklyn. It is the idea that it takes a community to raise a child, and from a personal stand point Nkulumane had a major role to play in my upbringing. I’m proud of the fact that God used such people to raise me, so really this brand is us saying you should be proud about where you are from.

How did you get into the music business?
It started as a hobby, I did not think that 9 years later I would be professional about it. When I was growing up I was a shy kid, I would get pissed and start writing stories and changing characters, just to articulate how I was feeling at the time. Then after a while, stories were not enough. When I wanted to convey a message which I needed my sister to understand, I would use poetry as a way of describing what I was feeling. When I heard about Hip Hop in 2007, I fell in love with it and decided I wanted to do it. At High School, I studied commerce, which involves marketing. I began to use my music as an example of how to market. From there I got involved with some producers and then 2013 I met t1nda and I was in it.

You’ve been in it for 9 years, what would you say, inspires you?
I think it’s the love for what I do, but my main inspiration is God. He created everything and inspiration is everywhere. I believe as an artist your job is to give people snap shots of your life. That for me is my inspiration.

Tell me more about this culture that’s taking centre stage for Christian rappers
It’s been around for a while, but I think right now it’s at a point where it’s really in your face. we finally here. A good example of someone who has been in the game for more than 10 years is t1nda. Now people are really looking at it differently, they trying to monetise the art form, and brand it in a way that people will accept it.
Tell me more about Man in Christ (MIC)
The MIC crew members are Billman, T1nda, Cypha and myself. We are all in different stages of life, but somehow God just glued us together and we complement each other in song and in life. They are the brothers I never had and I’m like the little brother they never had; it’s really cool. One of our main focus is discipleship. Before we even begin with the music, we like to engage with people, get to know them, take an interest in their lives, see who we can help, and how we can help them serve God and people in life. So our main drive is to make disciples for the lord.
We are all rappers, Cypha does poetry by the side, and Billman is into media and videography. T1nda is an MC and does a bit of comedy, and I’m into writing stories and spending time with other youths trying to inspire them.
Does MIC have anything coming?
Yes we have a single, we are working on called Hope is alive, that’s supposed to come out early December.

Tell us more out your show coming up this weekend
It’s on this weekend, Saturday 28, November, 2015 at Roman Catholic Church. We are really trying to paint the picture that it’s bigger than the music. We trying to do something different. We really believe that God is trying to show off, we have guests like, Salt and Light; a surprise intro for my set. We have two dance groups which are going to be doing some crazy dance moves. There will be draws where people will win T-shirts and for those who already have them, there will be a red carpet experience. It really will be awesome.

You mention Nkulumane a lot and your love for the community, how are you involved in making it better?
We are involved with the local churches, and have been developing relationships with youth leaders. We not only there when it involves music but we also try and engage the kids on a relational bases. We try to help shape their worldviews and challenge their perspective on culture. It’s been challenging, yet life changing. Then next year we are to planning to go to schools within the area and engage with them.
You keep mentioning how young you are. How old are you?
I am 19. Turning 20 in January.

Tell me more about the vison for your brand
We are currently experimenting with snap bags and sweaters. We would ultimately love to have a hip hop corner shop in Nkulumane and with time. have our own factory shop. It will take time but we want to be one of the backbones of the fashion industry in Zimbabwe.

Where would you like to be in 5 years?
To be honest, I would still like to be faithful with everything that God has given me. It is pointless for me to desire a bigger audience yet I’m not faithful to the few people that come to our show. So I still want to be killing shows regardless of numbers, giving them the best and hopefully set up the whole business in a way that it can sustain us. Especially, since there’s ministry involved we would need money to sustain it and get to a place where we can help others.

What would you say to people who want to follow in your footsteps?
I would say know yourself first, because you can’t chase your dreams if you don’t know yourself. I’ll use the analogy of a relationship, would you date a man who does not know what he is supposed to be doing? You wouldn’t, because a man is supposed to lead. But if he does not know what he’s supposed to be doing which direction are you really going.

Thank you so much for taking time to chat with us
It’s been a pleasure