Okello Max: I wanted to do media before music

Kenyan artist Okello Max | Okello Max's Instagram

Okello Max, a well-known Kenyan artist for his versatile musical style that blends Dholuo in his music, has revealed that he initially wanted to work in media.

In an interview with Shiksha Arora on the "Feast with Friends" show on YouTube, the Taya hitmaker opened up about his life before his music career put him in the limelight.

"My dad was like, 'You have to do medicine, you have to be a doctor. " Okello Max said.

With his father expecting this from him, the artist, who had scored a B- in his KCSE, went back to school to improve his grade to secure admission to medical school.

"So I had to repeat, but I didn't do any better; I got a B+. He wanted an A, so I did what I wanted to do," Okello Max recalled.

"I was like, 'Dad, I want to do media.' He was like, 'That is not a career. ' To date, he mocks me, 'I want to do media,' until date," he added.

By choosing his own path, Okello Max joined Moi University, where he started trying music. "I tried music, performing in restaurants," the artist said.

The artist also shared his musical background as a child before growing up and going professional.

"I grew up in a very big family. I'd say we used to bond over music. Every evening after supper, people would sit and we would sing hymns together," he said. "Music was it for us, I believe, because a lot of us sing, but I do it professionally," he added.

"My uncle, brother to my dad, Mr Francis, was a choir master. So my uncle used to take us to interesting choir practices because he was the choir master at a Catholic church." The Taya hitmaker shared.

"In the evening, when we went back home, he'd call all the kids in our homestead, teach us a song that maybe he had been working on, ask us to sing, and if you missed a note, he'd whoop you," Okello Max added.

"I was always the best student. And when you were the best, he also rewarded you with a 5-bob," he recalled.

The artist said this experience made him decide that he would venture into music.

The Taya hitmaker is currently a powerhouse in the Kenyan music industry, with his back-to-back hit releases and a huge fanbase.