KabOose

The emcee Kaboose is a product of two worlds. He was born, Ron Wilson, to a white mother and a Native American father who struggled under the weight of alcoholic addiction. Before his first year, his father was out of his life and his world was cut down to a single mother working two waitressing jobs just to make it.

Kaboose's formative years were spent in San Jose, California playing in the streets and embracing sports. Kaboose started spending more time with the wrong group of kids. His mother, ever aware of the siren call of the streets on young urban men, decided to move her small family to Minnesota Kaboose found himself in a new world.

At the age of 12, the inner city kid found himself in rural America, living in between two Native American reservations. It was another world for him but one that he quickly came to identify with. This was the culture and birthplace of his father. This was a heritage that he shared. In his adolescent development, his eyes were opened to some of the difficulties that his Native American 'brothers' faced on reservations. He became painfully aware of the despair and hopelessness that so many felt. His empathy for the struggle that many of his people go through affects his music and message today. "I want to relate with the common person going through the struggles in life and show them that life isn’t easy but we can make it." Kaboose says.

In high school, Kaboose immersed himself in sports and had "big dreams for hoops." Those dreams were shattered in 1996 when he suffered a mild heart attack at the age of 18. This was a turning point for Kaboose. It was a moment that he says, "changed my world 180 degrees." He continues, "I had big plans for hoops but God had different plans for my life." He committed his life to Christ in 1996 and he says, "God changed my life drastically and gave me hope." A couple years later he married his college sweet heart Hannah Wilson and later had a son, Quincy. He has been a blessed man ever since.

Hip hop had always been a way of life for Kaboose. He was an avid listener and a part of the hip hop subculture but he didn't pick up a mic until his sophomore year at Oak Hills Christian College, 4 years ago. "God placed words on my heart that would later become a song" he said. A week later he rocked his first show. As he put it, "it was on from there." From that point on, I just kept writing and seeking God for guidance. He kept opening doors, so I walked through them with faith."

Kaboose's goal in hip hop is simple. "My vision for music is to bring a message of hope to people who are blinded from the world. There is a power in music that can fill a person's heart with hope. But it can also fill a persons heart with hate and rage. Music is a powerful tool that can uplift and also tear down. Today there is too much pointless hip hop affecting the youth's perception of themselves and the world. The devil would have them believe that they have to act a certain way or dress a certain way to fit in. But God has placed a gift inside of me that I want to bloom to the fullest and reflect his love and glorify him in everything I do. I do music from my heart. It is a part of me that has been trapped for years and is now ready to come out."

A product of two worlds, Kaboose has come along way. God has seen him through the urban streets to the rural biways. He has seen him through broken dreams, an injured heart, and a rough childhood. But these experiences have paved the way for a dynamic and positive emcee whose goal is to glorify God and lift up the lost around him. National audiences have not yet heard much of Kaboose's work, but they will. And when they do it's Kaboose's hope that their worlds will be changed by Jesus Christ.

Kaboose's formative years were spent in San Jose, California playing in the streets and embracing sports. Kaboose started spending more time with the wrong group of kids. His mother, ever aware of the siren call of the streets on young urban men, decided to move her small family to Minnessota. Kaboose found himself in a new world.

At the age of 12, the inner city kid found himself in rural America, living inbetween two Native American reservations. It was another world for him but one that he quickly came to identify with. This was the culture and birthplace of his father. This was a heritage that he shared. In his adolescent development, his eyes were opened to some of the difficulties that his Native American 'brothers' faced on reservations. He became painfully aware of the despair and hopelessness that so many felt. His empathy for the struggle that many of his people go through affects his music and message today. "I want to relate with the common person going through the struggles in life and show them that life isn’t easy but we can make it." Kaboose says.

In high school, Kaboose immersed himself in sports and had "big dreams for hoops." Those dreams were shattered in 1996 when he suffered a