Shadrack Paulo Mabula

Shadrack Paulo Mabula (born 8 November 1988) is a Tanzania-based gospel singer.

Mabula was born and raised in the village of Ipililo, Simiyu District, Maswa Province. He went to school in Ipililo and shepherded cattle in the village. He then relocated to the town of Maswa to find more opportunities.

"In Maswa, I pulled cart and sold water for six months, from which i was able to raise enough capital with which I bought a mud house for my mother," he says. "I sneaked into Dar es Salaam by hiding in the luggage train. I was able to find help from a fisherman who agreed to take me to Zanzibar island."

In Zanzibar, Mabula slept without food in the streets for a few days from where he was able to secure a job as a herdsman for a few weeks before quitting again.

"I was employed by an Arab tradesman as a caretaker for his shop. He made me convert into a muslim as i worked for him, "he says, roughly ignoring the effect of this religion ideology.

In between this time, Mabula trained himself as a night driver while working in the day.

"I was also introduced to alcohol and substance abuse from which I was arrested, facing cruel charges after hitting a colleague and spilling off all his teeth. I spent a year-and-a-half in prison out of that.

Mabula got a job just a week after prison life and was back to normal life until this happened:

"I was driving a lady to church in taxi, while drinking konyagi (a local alcoholic brand ) when she suddenly burst into tears. I asked her why she was crying and she said she pitied me. She gave me five thousand and asked me to go drink soda instead and get saved."

Mabula opted to follow the woman into the church. "I fell in love with God and gave my life to him that day. Later on I was baptised and assigned to a caretaker who guided me through, and he was a musical talent too. He advised me to be part of the choir and I joined. Not so good at the time but stayed consistent until I was able to fully learn and record my very first studio album. "

Mabula's first and second studio albums did not do so well. Until he did his third studio album, 'Siyo Bure', which was following up with 'Siyo Sisi', which was received well.