Banky w shared a touching birthday message to EME boss segun Demuren.
Read the touching message below:
"About @segundemuren: The morning of Jan 1st 2009 was one of the worst
of my life. I went to Church the night before to pray in the new year...
and there I poured my heart out to God. You see, i moved back to Lag on
Feb 14th 08. It was a tough decision quitting my well-paid engineering
job in nyc and moving back, but I felt incomplete and unfulfilled.
That decision however, led to a tough year. I had gained some small
popularity in music, but fame comes way before fortune in my line of
work.
So yes there were videos on tv, but I was flat out broke. I'd spent all
my savings on my music business.. I was driving a beat down car that
broke down on every possible major road in Lagos, and I had resorted to
"borrowing" 5k from my manager weekly, to fuel my car and buy recharge
cards. I'd started second guessing my decision. Shld I have moved back
at all? Shld I have listened to folks and stayed in nyc? It was hard. I
wasn't getting any show bookings, infact Segun & I used to show up
to events wayyy early just to make sure we could get inside, and times
without number we wld beg & plead to get 5 mins to perform on shows
only to get turned down.
I was frustrated. Why wasn't my music
working here? Why couldnt ppl see what we saw? Maybe I wasnt meant to be
here? And then after church that morning, I got accosted by armed
robbers, driven around on the joy-ride-from-hell, roughed up, and robbed
of everything on me. Phones, money, jewelry, ipod, hat, shoes, u name
it. They kept threatening to shoot me, but I just kept praying psalm 91
and somehow I made it home to Segun's house in one piece. And while I
was grateful to be alive, I sunk into further depression. For a week
plus I wouldn't leave my room. I felt like my whole world had come
crashing down, and like I had nothing to show for all my effort and
prayers. And then Segun walked into my room and said "hey bro.. I know
it's really bad right now. But the good news is, this is rock bottom. U
have hit it, and ur still alive. It can only get better from here, but U
can't let it defeat U. U gotta get up, dust it off, and channel all
that nervous energy into making music again!!" I was in shock..
I was in shock. How did he expect me to just shake everything off just
like that? My mental state was a total mess. I didn't have a penny to
even pay for the studio time, and even my car had been bashed. I said
"bro even if I want to record, how would I pay for it?" He asked who I'd
wanna work with and I said Cobhams. He asked me to find out how much it
would cost... I did. The next day he walked into my room with the
entire amount in full that he had borrowed from someone.
Plus extra for cab fare.
I paid for the Cobhams sessions, and the very first song we created was
"Strong Ting".. till date one of my biggest hits in Africa. The requests
for performances started coming.. I started actually receiving airplay.
Ppl finally started understanding me and my music, and better yet, they
ACTUALLY liked it! My life changed from that moment and so did my
finances.
God has used Segun to guide, direct, help, support and save me on too
many occasions. I want to wish my big brother and role model a veryyyy
happy birthday, and pray for him that he and his family will never know
lack in Jesus name. For the seeds of kindness, love and support he has
sown in my life and many others, may God bless him and every generation
born of him. I love you forever, and I look up to you.
I shared this particular story because I also want to encourage y'all. I
know life can be hard and harsh, but don't give up hope after the
darkest of nights, because your morning is right around the corner.
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