Gospel Musician Ringtone Declares Himself The Richest Artist in East Africa
By: Absalom Mulama
Posted on Friday, November 20, 2020
If you watched Ringtone Alex Apoko's interview on Switch TV Kenya's Full Circle with Joyce, you'll agree with us that, it was an episode to remember. From his 700,000-shilling spiked shoes, to a fat stack of notes sticking out of his pocket, Mr. Apoko was not shy in showing off his success.
According to him, he is the self-appointed “Chairman of gospel in Kenya.” Joyce was really firm with her questions but she was met by equal firmness, or even what some would call arrogance from the gospel musician. On the interview, Ringtone accused Bahati and Willy Paul of being conmen. According to him "they are stealing from the kingdom of God". Joyce however did not entertain those comments because the artists were not present to defend themselves.
Before delving deeper into the antics Ringtone brought to the show, here’s a little about his humble background.
Ringtone was abandoned in the streets by his mother, where he became a street boy and later a shoe shiner. He admitted that he never grew up in a family structure; his father died before he could see him.
He made a decision to go to Mombasa in search of a sugar mummy to rescue him from his financial misery but instead met a stranger who led him to church, showing him the path to Christ. That's where he started going to Church and made his first hit song ‘Maisha’ at form three.
Ringtone has since gone on to make collaborations with most Kenyan Gospel heavyweights. Some of the musicians he has collaborated with include Gloria Muliro, Rose Muhando and the latest being Christina Shusho in his song ‘Omba’.
Away from that, the opinionated musician likes taking jabs at other gospel musicians and the state of the industry in Kenya. He criticizes Willy Paul and Bahati who have shifted from gospel music to the secular scene.
The gospel artist has been criticized for talking about his wealth too much. Back in September, his car got stuck in mud at The Maasai Mara and he took to Twitter to share in unnecessary detail of how much it cost and its features.
The Twitter post read “My 26 million Shillings 2020 Range Rover SVR Sport with sunroof, 4-wheel drive, has screens, has a fridge, and a v12, brind sport monitors and sind impact resistant, and intelligent lights. stack in mad at Maasai Mara.” [sic]
When asked why he can’t see the log in his eye, Ringtone said that he thinks he is a good ambassador of Christ and “doesn’t see a problem in how he handles his fame,” he added, “my success is a sign that God exists and I’m not afraid off His work.”
Kenyan gospel artists have been criticized of going after wealth more than spreading the word of God through their music. Commenting on the solution to this situation, he said that gospel artists and listeners should be stern.
“We need to become radical Christians, tuwache kubembelezana.” Ringtone said. “If someone uses blasphemy, we should tell them to stop. For example, if a song is named Halleluiah but it’s a secular song, we should call out the singer.”
Watch the highlights of interview below.
