NTV"s Dann Mwangi is a man of many talents, away from gracing the screens as the business anchor on Prime Time news, the seasoned journalist is also actively involved in the Gospel Ministry.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, Dann who also serves as the Innovation and Training editor at Nation Media Group opened up on how he got into making gospel music under his stage name Number8, the Poet.
Dann who grew up in a strict Christian family also actively took part in the drama club while in high school. He later joined Kenyatta University where he became a member of a music group referred to as Mission Driven.
"My inspiration was and is the gospel. I interacted with people who desire to know God but the message us not been delivered in a way they can identify with. Guys - who like me - felt that there is a need for connecting life issues with the Word of God," he stated.
In the group Mission Driven, Dann was a professional dancer and a stand-in rapper. He was in the group with Nairobi Senator John Sakaja who was a rapper and bass guitarist in the group.
He explained that the they met through the church AIC Ngong Road where they rapped together. The group was able to release a song titled, "Save Me Saviour" in 2006.
Eventually, the group members went on to pursue solo projects which Dann observes runs concurrently with his work in Mission Driven and the Ministry of Mouth.
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"We are believers of the ideology that being in a group should not deny you the freedom to do solo projects. You still have your own person, identity, specific mission field that may not always have a group context. But, we support each other even in these," he stated.
In 2011, Dann produced a spoken word piece titled, Flush It which addressed the culture of people engaging in casual sex and its real impact with the Scripture.
"We need to learn what sexuality is about from scripture and act responsibly, considering the effects of our actions both in the short-term and in the long-term. Not that we should act in fear of negative happenings, but in reverence for truth, uprightness and honouring God with our sexuality," Dann explains in the description of the video.
While in the Ministry of Mouth, Dann released a number of projects including Rebuilding which he scripted, directed and edited.
In 2016, the group has also produced a beatbox cover of urban gospel songs.
The anchor explained that the group has been a consistent support system in his life noting that they even performed at his wedding.
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