Looking at the past life of Brian Ouko Omollo, popularly known as Khaligraph Jones or Papa Jones, or the O.G, and his current wealth status, it won’t be far from the truth saying that difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.
Born in Bondo in Nyanza, Khaligraph’s childhood was marked with lots of financial hurdles. According to published reports, his family life worsened after the demise of his father, who was battling diabetes.
At the time, they were living in Kayole in Nairobi’s Eastland. His mother had to hustle hard to make ends meet. The financial situation at home forced Khaligraph to drop out of school to do some jobs to supplement his mother’s income.
He later returned to school after spending two years on the stands to complete his high school studies. After having completed high school, the rapper immediately began hustling on the streets to make ends meet.
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Speaking in an interview with Richard Njau on Cleaning The Airwaves, Khaligraph said he landed a job as a bouncer at Skylux Lounge and at a club near Wilson Airport, earning Sh500 per night.
“you needed to eat coz music is not giving you any money, and we were not doing music with the intention of making money; we were doing music because we were passionate about it. It was not a side hustle…it was my hustle.” He said.
He was later fired after a co-worker snitched on him. It was at this time he started taking his music career seriously.
Khaligraph’s Music Career
In a past interview, Khaligraph said he started rapping when he was a small boy, with his first release being a gospel song.
“I started rapping when I was a kid. I started with gospel music around 2004 when I recorded my very first song. Hopekid and I had formed a group in Kayole because we were in the same school. ‘’
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“We didn’t have a name for the group; we all had our own individual names. The producer really rushed me, I was 13 years old when I first hit the studio. At the time, there weren’t many studios. I was with Hopekid, but it was a memorable moment.” He said.
Khaligraph entered the studio in 2008 as a solo artist and chose to get into the secular world. According to him, he settled on secular music because he felt everyone was doing gospel music.
“I wanted to create my own path. At the time, I felt like everyone was doing gospel music. I wasn’t comfortable, and I didn’t want to lead a life that I was not living. I didn’t want to preach water and drink wine.”
In 2009, Khaligraph won the Channel O MC Africa competition that was seeking to find the best rapper to represent Kenya on the international map. Unfortunately, he couldn’t proceed as he didn’t have a passport and ID and was still in high school.
“I used that as a stepping stone to launch my career professionally in 2012.”
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In 2013, he found a breakthrough with his hit song “YEGO,” which was dedicated to Kenyan sports legend Julius Yego.
The song resonated with fans all over Africa, hitting a million views. He has climbed the ranks to become one of the top African rappers.
Throughout his career, Khaligraph has won multiple awards, including the 2018 Best Male Artist Afrimma Awards, the 2020 Best Hip Hop Artist Afrimma Awards, and was nominated for Best International Act at the 2020 BET Awards.
Besides music, he is a successful businessman with multiple investments cutting across various sectors. He owns a car garage dubbed Omollo Customz, among other businesses.
The rapper doesn’t shy away from flaunting his car collection, which includes a Subaru that costs Sh 5 million, a Chrysler that retails at about Sh 3.5 million, a Toyota Crown, and a Mercedes E class.
He recently gifted himself a brand new Lexus LX570 days after dropping a banger featuring Harmonize of Tanzania.