Category: Entertainment

It is the first quarter of 2025, but the pressure of achieving New Year’s resolutions has struck many Nigerians, especially men.

Traditionally, men are expected to be providers and problem-solvers for their families. This role involves stress, which can result in chronic stress and might trigger their dopamine, depriving men of feeling sad and unmotivated. Research and anecdotal evidence suggest that women find jokes funnier and laugh more than men do. As a result, many African men tend to exhibit stoic behaviour due to high stress. OLAITAN GANIU writes.

Deja, 4, the daughter of popular Afrobeat artiste, Adekunle Gold, has criticised her father for being overly serious.

“Daddy, you are always serious about everything,” she said nonchalantly in her tiny voice.

Initially, the 38-year-old singer opposed. “No, I’m not,” he replied defensively. But Deja was not convinced. “Yes, you are,” she chuckled.

For Adekunle Gold, the chit-chat struck him unexpectedly like a random bullet. “Her words got me thinking; how does my four-year-old know to say this? It felt like my daughter was telling me to live a little. Many people have thrown my seriousness in my face over the years, and I have not taken it very seriously (pun intended). But to hear my daughter echo the same sentiment to me, unprovoked, it made me wonder.”

Born as Adekunle Almoruf Kosoko, the ‘Orente’ singer was raised in a conventional African household where discipline was strict and laughter was rare. His father was a strict man. Hence, no room for levity.

“My dad was a very strict man. He rarely laughed with us, and when he did, it felt like it was a better day than usual. I wonder if it’s genetic,” Gold, who revealed his lifelong battle with sickle cell disease in 2022, queried.

His reaction to humour was shaped not only by his family history but also by the survival mechanism instilled in him by the environment of his childhood in the suburb of Lagos.

“From what I can remember, there were no examples around me of what I wanted to become. I knew there was more for me to be, and I wanted it. So when I finished secondary school, the chase began,” he narrated.

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“I earned a degree in Art and Industrial Designs at Laspotech (I know the name has changed now), but it wasn’t enough. So I learned Photography and became the ‘King of Photoshop’. I had multiple 9-5s, as well as freelance jobs as a graphics designer. But it wasn’t enough. I started a branding company, and clearly it wasn’t enough.”

His relentless drive brought him to the music industry in 2014. Riding on his talent as a former church choir member during his teenage years, experimenting as a singer to record a song titled ‘Sade’. The song rose to critical acclaim and was nominated for Best Alternative Song at The Headies 2015. He got into Olamide’s YBNL record label, where he released his debut album entitled ‘Gold,’ and the rest is history.

“You would think I had my hands too full for music, but a lot of my income was fueling that passion that nobody really knew I had at the time. Music was always my end game. And when I got my break, you’d think that it would be enough, but it wasn’t,” said the father of one who married his colleague and singer Simi in 2019. “For every win I had, I was chasing 10 more. I didn’t know what it felt like to enjoy my wins. I didn’t know how to stop. And sometimes, to breathe, to be in the moment, to live, you have to pause and take a look at your wins.

“As dramatic as it sounds, I haven’t rested since the ‘Gold’ Album. Of all the people who have called me out for being too serious, Deja’s voice has been the loudest. I have made a pact with myself (the 22nd one) to relax and enjoy more, be more in the moment, to let my hair down (I cut it all off sha). I am a being, not a machine I’m supposed to be.”

His realisation is a reminder to everyone to pause, laugh, and enjoy the wins.