HE WAS BULLIED and kicked out of school. He knew what it was like to sleep in fear, and the machete not too far away.
There was no strong parental guidance in the Porey Spring, St Thomas home Hoszia Hinds shared with his 12 other siblings. What had to be done was done so food was on the table.
It is fair to say the singer/songwriter understands the true ghetto stories played out on the streets of Barbados.
However, he knows there is a way out, through Jesus Christ. And this was the message he felt compelled to send during an impromptu interview at the Nation’s office.
“I know how it is to live that life and to change it to live on the righteous path . . .,” he began.
Hoszia made it clear that he was not willing to divulge everything about his past, but recalled heading down the wrong path around “13 or 14”.
“My mum used to travel a lot to work so it used to be hard for us without a mother and our father was out of the picture so we used to have to depend on ourselves,” the 33-year-old told WEEKEND BUZZ.
In the halls of his alma mater, St Leonard’s Secondary, Hoszia was picked on because of his diminutive stature. Fighting was his method of choice of proving he was not one to be messed with.
“I didn’t even reach grey and white . . .,” he revealed candidly. “I was a short man and people would ‘give me talk’ and I would have to let them know if [they] hit me I would ‘buss’ ya head.
“People used to try to take way my money, so bullying was a part of my life that I didn’t like that people used to do to me and it caused me to rebel.”
Branded as the “worst student in the school” by teachers and students, the troublesome teen was finally kicked out after a serious fight.
Moving out on his own at 15 years old, the Failure Is Not An Option singer turned on full hustle mode, selling drugs and becoming a gangster to bankroll his lifestyle.
The wake-up “call” from God came after being hospitalised as a result of being “chopped” in a fight stemming from a petty insult.
“I was looking around in the hospital for the voice that was talking to me. I heard the voice one hour later and I knew it was the voice of God and I needed to change.”
He admitted the path was not without its challenges. There were people who knew him before being saved and tried to test his faith and relationship with Christ, the singer said.
However, the strength of his testimony and family unit of wife Tracyann and son Trezia kept him moving forward.
“The only way is Jesus. There is no other way and for me they try to go around other ways and they always come back to the main source and that is Christ.”
And using a talent he nurtured despite harsh circumstances, Hoszia has ministered to many across the Caribbean and North America. Look out for singles Things Not Pretty as well as and It’s Not Right, due to be released soon.
