On a Rolls Royce Cullinan cruise with GRMDaily’s Posty, Nigerian singer Rema revealed a truth that many fans had long suspected—he deeply misses his childhood.
“I really wanted to feel like a child again. I feel like I grew up too fast. Life switched on me crazy…when I lost my dad, when I lost my brother, the weight was on my shoulder, and it forced me to sell my childhood just to provide for my family,” he soulfully told a rapt Posty.
As someone who tasted wealth and fame at an age when many Nigerian young adults were still struggling with fresher or sophomore years in college, it’s understandable for the twenty-four-year-old to share such sentiment.
Like Divine himself said, speedy fame begets speedy maturity and a “never-ending level of seriousness.”
Decisions that should be approached with youthful exuberance instead felt like monumental choices.
Worse, back when children did children things, a younger Divine was reeling from the death of his father and brother and hustling with music beats production to get by. And then, fame set it, extinguishing any hopes of retaining what was left of his childhood.
Again, Rema’s story isn’t much of a revelation. In truth, it’s a confirmation. As you may have guessed from his new project, “HEIS,” elements of his longing seep through, glaring from the ad-libs and mumblings.
It’s most palpable in the track, “Now I Know” which has verses like “All of my trauma dey hit me from many years/All my childhood lost ’cause I wan feed family.”
It’s evident his lost childhood is taking an emotional toll on him. Sometimes, he says, he smokes a cigarette, not as a habit, but to feel how it’s like to break some rules.
A phase that many teenagers anticipate to scale as a sign of independence is one that many young adults yearn to reclaim. It’s a paradox that accompanies responsibility – one folks like Rema, who seemingly have it all, must confront.