Musician Joeboy opens up on childhood trauma.

The pain we experience in life can either break us down or empower us to create a path that prevents us from enduring such trauma again.

Multi-award-winning Nigerian Afrobeat and pop singer-songwriter Joeboy chose the latter approach. 

At 27 years old, Joseph Akinwale reflects on how growing up in a poor background seemed to doom him to failure from a young age. 

However, he refused to let his family’s financial struggles hold him back.

In a candid interview with media personality Isi Ijewere on the “Backstage Banter with Isi” show, Joeboy opened up about the embarrassment of growing up poor and the emotional toll it took on him as a child. 

“When I was younger, I often owed school fees, and it became quite embarrassing. When I was in junior secondary school (JSS3), the secretary who reported the names of students owing fees came in, and before she even started, the whole class called out my name: ‘Akinfewa Joseph’.

It really hurt me!” the hitmaker of ‘Beginning’ recalled, reflecting on those painful memories.

This specific experience deeply affected him, leading him to declare that he no longer wanted to continue his education.

“It hurt me so much that I went home and told my parents I was never going back to that school again. I didn’t care; I withdrew and insisted that I was done,” he stated.

Fortunately, Joeboy did return to school, and he chose to channel his anger and pain into bettering his life. 

He also aimed to support other children from disadvantaged backgrounds who might be facing similar challenges. 

He founded the Young Legend Foundation, a subsidiary of his record label, Young Legend, which focuses on supporting educational and creative endeavours. 

“I launched it two months ago, and we’ve been paying school fees for students. My inner child is very excited about that. It’s amazing what something like that can do for someone mentally. 

After all, it’s not the child’s fault if they can’t pay their fees, right? But people made me feel like it was my fault, and that was really embarrassing for me back then,” he shared.

To kick off its efforts, the foundation will grant scholarships to Nigerian students attending public tertiary institutions and universities for the 2024/2025 academic session.

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