Call Him MiNiMe:
When Paztuh Mike first hit the hip hop scene, fans knew him as MiNiMe. The name sprang up years earlier when neighborhood friends started making comparisons between Mike and his uncle. “You’re a mini version of him,” they’d say. But another confidante, Kevin, had taken Mike under his wing and was teaching his young protégé how to navigate the streets. Kevin knew Mike and his uncle well, so it made sense for him to have an opinion about Mike’s identity. One day he told him: “Man, you’re not a mini version of your uncle. You’re your own person…a mini version of YOU.”
“Mini me?” Mike responded.
“Yeah,” Kevin said. “Minime”
Mike, who was 14 at the time, wasn’t too crazy about the nickname. But Kevin didn’t care. He called Mike “Minime” whenever he saw him. And others in the neighborhood followed suit.
During the next few years, Mike honed his rap skills and earned a reputation as one of the best hip hop artists around town. Kevin approached him with a simple proposition: “If you ever make it big in the rap game, stick with Minime.” Mike agreed, but still wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of taking the stage as Minime. So, he didn’t think much of the conversation. That is, until tragedy struck. Just one year later, Kevin died in a car accident.
“When I found out about Kevin, I immediately took on MiNiMe,” Mike recalls. “The name was his idea. I wanted to honor his memory and keep the promise I’d made to him.”
MiNiMe’s popularity kept growing with the rise of his recording studio, MiNiMe Studio Productions. His music was hard-hitting and raw, promoting a lifestyle of fast money, drugs, and women. It was a lifestyle he knew all too well. He’d grown up fatherless, so the streets shaped his character and his songs. Even though his lyrics degraded women and promoted violence, his rap skills were undeniable. MiNiMe was getting a taste of what he envisioned for his future: a path to becoming one of hip hop’s greatest rap superstars.
But God had other plans.
The Transformation
Behind the scenes, Mike was growing tired of his loose lifestyle. At the same time, he was having regular conversations with his grandmother about Jesus. After numerous visits with her and much time in prayer, he eventually committed his life to following Christ.
Although fans still knew him as MiNiMe, an obvious change began to take place in his music. He continued to make creative beats and showcase his lyrical brilliance, but he no longer bashed women or promoted the pimp mindset he had grown accustomed to. Instead, his songs spoke of hope, saving himself for marriage, and holding onto God no matter what came his way. It was a transformation everybody noticed.
Losing It All
Mike was enjoying his new lease on life when God began to challenge him about his career. He constantly told God that he loved music, but would give it all up if his wife came into his life. One day, God asked in return, “But would you give it all up for Me?” For several days, Mike heard this question in his heart and his answer was always the same: “Yes, Lord.” Then he received another directive—“You’ve done a really good job seeking my hand. Now it’s time to seek My face.” As Mike contemplated all that God was stirring in him, he found himself on his knees one night crying out, “Lord, I will give all this up for You!” From that moment, a process began to take place that forever changed Mike’s life. He admits it was a process that got off to a rocky start.
“Right after that prayer, everything started falling apart,” Mike reflects. “And I mean within days. I lost my car, my recordings, my studio time…I had nothing to show for all that I had invested over the years. Before I knew it, I was bitter and mad at God. But the truth is, I loved my music more than I loved God. I was already doing some ministry, but music was the only thing I thought I was good at. So I gripped onto it. My music was everything to me. God knew He had to get me to the point where I really would give up everything for Him.””
From MiNiMe To Paztuh Mike
For the next five years, Mike focused on ministry while he went through a healing process and a change of heart toward God. In that time, he truly learned to put God before his music. And then, in 2014, he felt the Lord’s leading to pick up the mic again. That year saw a boom in Mike’s music and ministry. He was certain his career was about to take off. But there was one more piece of personal business he had to address: his stage name.
People had already begun to call him “Pastor,” another label he initially ran from. He understood more than anybody that real change had taken place in his life, but he wasn’t interested in such a “churchy” title.
“By this time, I was ministering nonstop,” Mike says. “Folks living in these urban areas didn’t see me as an outsider, someone behind a pulpit they couldn’t touch. They saw me as one of them, someone they could actually see doing the work that needed to be done. It was important for me to stay approachable and relatable. I didn’t think being known as ‘Pastor’ would help me do that.”
With time, though, that outlook changed. Over the next few years, he grew his nonprofit, Men Standing Positive, was ordained into ministry, got married, and served in neighborhoods, schools, and churches around the St. Louis region.
“I knew it was time,” Paztuh Mike explains. “God had been dealing with me about changing my name for years and I was finally ready to listen. He had nothing to do with the creation of MiNiMe and He didn’t want me to have anything to do with it either. It was part of my past. Now it was time to take the title He had placed upon my life.”
Mike embraced “Pastor,” gave it his own creative flair, and officially put MiNiMe to rest. Now, Paztuh Mike was, and is, here to stay.
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