M.I.S.T.A (Rene Phillips) is a young man from Aruba who lived and worked several in various countries. He was offered that opportunity because of the profession of his grandfather. Until his 6th year he lived till on the island of Aruba. Later on he spent several years of his youth in the Netherlands and at the age of 13 he migrated with his parents to the United States.

The Netherlands
On 18th birthday Rene turned to the Netherlands where he established himself in the city of Utrecht. Rene and a friend from his youth, Benny Ferrier (Mighty B.), began to experiment with rap music under the name of Master Rockers. Later the name of the group was changed into Mellow MC. In 1989 the first release of this duo was released on Hiphop Records.

In 1992 Rene gave his collaboration - under the name of D-Rock - to the hiphouse-single 'I can' Believe It's Over', produced by Martin and Bobby Boer. At the same time 2 Brothers on the 4th floor was formed and this group scored huge hits with 'Can't Help Myself' and 'Turn Da Music Up'. In 2003 the single 'Who Wanna Make... Chi Ching!' of Mr. Phillips featuring Masta was released.