DJ Nicholas - Ricardo Makyn

A few years ago, gospel artiste DJ Nicholas was planning a rebellion. He was thinking of rounding up some gunmen and going on a robbery spree. These days, the deejay is planning a rebellion of another sort - he's trying to win souls for Christ through his music and ministry.

After leaving high school, Nicholas Eccleston was an aimless youngster hanging with his friends in the inner city, pursuing gangster music and trying to find religion.

Mostly gun songs

He told THE STAR, "I used to love deejaying but it was mostly gun songs. I used to write a lot about guns, but I had an innate desire to know God." That desire, he thought, was fulfilled when he was introduced to the Rastafarian faith. He explained that when he first embraced the teachings of the faith, he was confused, but did so because he had received a vision in which fire was falling from the sky and he received instructions from a Rasta man.

Just rebellious

Although his mother was a devout Christian, Eccleston decided to become a practising Rastafarian. "I used to smoke ganja anywhere, even in front of my mother. Police or no one couldn't talk to mi. I stopped cutting my hair, so you know I couldn't get a regular job. I didn't look presentable and I was just rebellious and going wayward."

He continued, "My mother used to just pray for me, she couldn't do much, but she didn't like it. Sometimes, I would sleep out and she didn't know where I was. I was just living a careless life."

Eccleston's life was going nowhere and at the time, he didn't care. Through his years of rebellion, however, he never stopped reading the Bible and one day he came upon the scripture that he believed changed his life.

"I was reading Acts 4 vs 12 and that was my turning point. I was passing by a church one day and heard the pastor made an altar call. I went up to the altar and got baptised," he said.

After giving his life to God, Eccleston became a man with a purpose. He recognised that he had to earn an honest living and had various stints working as a waiter, doing construction and plumbing. He said, "I wanted that honest bread. I still had that love for music though and I realised that I could deejay about Christ. "

Pursue his dream

Determined to pursue his dream of a career in music, Eccleston approached veteran promoter/artiste Tommy Cowan and producer Danny Browne with samples of his music. They loved it and a new career was born. He was signed to Browne's Mainstreet label and recorded his first song with him. After appearing on a few gospel shows, Eccleston's popularity grew. His first major show was at Cowan's Fun in the Son, which was then known as Gospel Train.

Eccleston believes his greatest achievement was finding God. "I was very rebellious and I was going down a path of destruction. I didn't fully understand the Rasta faith and I was just basically wasting my life. In those those days, I didn't own anything. After I found God, I started to buy myself some little furniture, got married and now I have my ministry, my booking agency and I've won several awards, both locally and overseas."

Gospel artiste of the year

Eccleston has been the recipient of the Marlin Award twice, an award based in The Bahamas and given to top gospel artistes. He has also won two MAJA awards in Jamaica for top gospel artiste and was nominated for both the Youth View and Irie Awards for Gospel Artiste of the Year.

He believes his philosophy of the three Ps - patience, perseverance and purpose, should be the guiding light for anyone trying to achieve greatness. He explained, "Things don't happen overnight and no matter what happens, don't give up. If you are a waiter, just give it your best and eventually you'll become the supervisor and own your own restaurant. And once you find your purpose in God, then you'll definitely be fulfilled because God's desire is to bless and prosper you."

'I wanted that honest bread. I still had that love for music though and I realised that I could deejay about Christ.'