Ghanaian musician, Okyeame Kwame has left fans in shock after sharing a story of his battle with depression.
The surprising phase of the ever-bubbly musician’s life according to him took place in 2016.
In an interview, the award-winning rapper born Kwame Nsiah-Apau, attributed his situation to the fear of turning 40 years and what that holds for his career.
“I was 39 and turning 40 years old. I had written an article on my fear of the big four zero and almost everything that I feared. That I would lose my audience share, my ideas will be old, what are young people listening to, and observing that the average age of the Ghanaian is between 21 to 27 years. I’m thinking I’m going to lose it.
“I remember that when I was much younger I used to ask my mum how old are you and she’ll say 40 years and I would respond you’re too old. It is not just the fear of approaching 40, but the manifestation of what I was afraid of. Going to organize an event, but people are not coming. At that time, you know that the work we are doing is based on a social validation system, how many Instagram likes you get, how many people shared, and business investors are interested in those figures and saying that your worth is based on that external validation. Stupid as I was, I made it get to me,” he recollected on Accra-based Starr FM.
To deepen his woes, Okyeame Kwame revealed he lost $80,000 which he had invested in his music.
“I had invested a lot of money in my career that didn’t work. I put up billboards, I did rebranding and it didn’t work. I lost about $80,000.
“So that one, plus the shows not coming, plus my fear of the 40 years…the cock came home to roost. All the little things. so I felt inadequate, I am nothing, I am a nobody,” he revealed.
Though he did not give much details about his recovery stage, Okyeame Kwame said it took him a whole year to find himself.
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