Offset speaks on how growing up poor led him to become a devoted Christian

American rapper and songwriter Kiari Kendrell Cephus, known professionally as Offset, has opened up about how his difficult upbringing shaped both his career and his Christian faith.

Speaking in an interview on Friday, June 11, 2026, Offset reflected on his early life, saying he grew up in poverty in a household where faith played a central role. He noted that his family leaned heavily on Christianity during difficult times, and he was actively involved in church activities, including singing in the choir.

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According to him, this early exposure to faith became a foundation that stayed with him even as he pursued a music career.

“I believe in God. I was raised in the church, and I even sang in the choir. My family was poor, so our faith was in God,” he said.

He said his turning point came at around 17 years old when he dropped out of school and decided not to follow a traditional academic path. Instead, he chose to pursue music despite having no clear roadmap, driven by his belief in his talent and determination to succeed.

“I never came from a rich family. My turning point in life was when I was 17 years old. I dropped out of school and didn’t have a plan to go to college. I had a dream, so I pursued it,” he shared.

Offset recalled starting from humble beginnings, performing at small open mic events where only a handful of people were present. He said his first paid performance earned him about $250 (approximately Ksh39,000), noting that he often had to travel long distances for shows, sometimes spending nearly as much as he earned just to get there.

Despite this, he said those early experiences were important in building his confidence and stage presence.

“I went to open mics where sometimes there were only ten people. My first show paid me $250, and we had to drive four hours to get there, so it cost us almost the same money we made, but we needed to show people we had talent,” he added.

As his career grew, Offset said his biggest financial breakthrough came in 2018 while performing with Migos, where he stated that each member of the group earned around $20 million (approximately Ksh3.1 billion) in that year. However, he noted that financial success in the music industry often comes with challenges, especially around contracts and ownership.

“For people who don’t know, I make my money through music. When people said my music sucked, I worked hard to make it better. The biggest amount of money I made in a year was in 2018, when I was with Migos, and I think each one of us made about $20 million that year,” he said.

He explained that he had previously faced difficulties in music contracts and at some point felt he did not have enough control over his work. This, he said, pushed him to make difficult decisions about ownership and eventually led him to buy himself out of a contract so he could gain more control over his career.

“I have been messed over in business before, especially in music contracts, so the more hits I made, the more I started asking myself questions about ownership. So I bought myself out of the contract,” the rapper said.

Offset also advised upcoming artistes to be careful with their finances, recommending the use of escrow accounts to protect large earnings and ensure long-term financial stability. He emphasised that many artistes struggle after success because they fail to properly manage their money or structure their financial systems.

“A lot of artistes go broke, and I would advise that they always have an escrow account. When you make millions, you need to put that money somewhere where it can make more money for you, and you shouldn’t be able to touch it easily,” he said.