Veteran Nigerian rapper Reminisce has opened up on his desires for his children’s future careers.
Why I Don’t Want My Children To Do Music – Reminisce
During a podcast appearance on PulseNg, Alaga Ibile as he’s fondly called highlighted the industry’s unpredictability and challenges.
Reminisce compared the music industry to professional football, noting that only a select few achieve success.
He stressed the importance of education and having a backup plan, stating that even talented individuals may not make it in music.
He said while music has worked out for him, he doesn’t want his children to make it their sole focus in life.
He said:
“No, I don’t want my children to do music, and I don’t think they should. I’m not speaking as an African parent; I’m speaking from my experience.
“The thing is, music is crazy. You can be the most talented person and end up with nothing; it’s like football. I have friends whom I used to play football with, and some of them ended up having professional deals, and I have people who are 43 like me and are still hoping to get something.
“It might never happen, and so what I would say is, ‘Fine, get yourself a basic education first that you can pursue.’ So if it ends up coming, fine, and if it doesn’t, fine. But to say that I start pushing them tonight from the onset, no, because it’s really tough. Its crazy so I would prefer to put you on the right path but the primary thing, the education, get that first. If you want to pursue it, I would support you. But music as a first choice? No. It is rough and difficult; it is less than 5% of people that make these things.
“For every Ronaldo you see, there are 9000 people who didn’t make it. Hey, the basics are done first to have something to fall back on in case it doesn’t work out. I’m not going to convince any child to say it’d work out for them because it worked out for me. It may never happen”.
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