Sadeke Brooks, STAR Writer

Gospel artiste Kimroy-Chus

At 17 years old, gospel artiste Kimroy-Chus already had a drug problem and absentee parents before he decided to transform his life for God.

The artiste, whose real name is Kimroy Wilmot, says he had a somewhat perfect family life living with his grandmother and biological parents. Then everything started going sour.

Kimroy says his father got caught up in drugs and his mother left the island, leaving him with his sister-in-law. He says he started having regular disagreements with his sister-in-law, who moved out. This left him alone in the home in Stepney District in St Ann.

"Being home alone, guys in the neighbourhood started hanging out at my house. I start smoke weed and bring weed into the school to make extra money," said 20-year-old Kimroy, who was attending Abuttnott Gallimore High School at the time.

Delinquent at school

He said he became the leader of the group as the others would meet at his house. Due to the problems he was experiencing at school he was not allowed to graduate.

His life got worse as he decided to form his own gang called the Andem gang to mirror the activities of the notorious Joel Andem, Gang. In their gang, they would terrorise the people of Stepney and send extortion letters to the shopkeepers.

What seemed fun to Kimroy became a disaster as his gang quickly became the police's target as they thought the group was the Joel Andem Gang. This forced Kimroy to flee his quiet farming neighbourhood for Ocho Rios.

This was a definite blessing in disguise as it was there that he started attending the Family Church on the Rock at the request of his cousin. He says he started going to church regularly as he liked a girl there.

Kimroy said he continued and found himself going to church for the word, without realising.

"God's word has a way of transforming you. True change starts inside. I found myself stop smoking. I would build my spliff and take only two puffs then throw it away. So I stopped because I was wasting money," he said.

Rocking teens

At Family Church on the Rock, he attended Rock Teen; that was pivotal in his getting saved. Around the same time, his father died and he wrote a song which helped him to notice his song writing skills.

Since that development, he placed second in 'Gospel Face to Fame' competition. Also, he has performed at several events in the island, like Genesis and Fun in the Son, as well as other events across Jamaica. He will soon release the singles Daddy I Love You and later, Mi Naah.

He has also been giving inspirational speeches at primary and high schools in St Ann under the theme, 'Who is a real man?' Kimroy also works alongside the Seasalt programme to help transform the youth, especially young men.

Based on his experiences, he has a good rapport with students and he says his messages have been well received and he is getting a positive response from the public.

"It (response) really good fi tell yuh di truth. My main audience is the teenagers, especially the young guys, but the girls gravitate more. Mi come from weh most a dem a come from," he said.

He continued, "Most of the guys would come with me to Rock Teen. Most of them are really talented but they are not using it for God."

Taken from the Star, Saturday, March 15, 2008.