Nigerian singer Spyro has opened up about his childhood, saying some of the words his father used while raising him affected his confidence and made him feel useless.
Speaking on a podcast with Nevon HQ, Spyro recalled growing up as a pastor’s child and the pressure that came with it. He said his father often made certain comments that hurt him, even though he believed they may not have been meant that way.
“For me, it was terrible for me because my own father would usually just say some things to me, even though I think it doesn’t mean that, but he would constantly tell me that, you know, he would use some words to me,” he said.
Spyro said he had little positive support to build his confidence and felt like the black sheep in his family.
“There was nothing to build from because there was no positivity. You know, I was like the black sheep of the family,” he said.
He said this made him see himself as a failure and fear what the future held.
“So thinking, when I think of myself, I think of myself to be a failure already back then,” he said.
That fear continued through school, with Spyro worrying about whether he would finish secondary school or graduate from university.
“Because of this fear, I mean, from some of the things that my dad would say and the words that he would use, I kind of felt useless, you know,” Spyro said.
He also spoke about the pressure pastor’s children face to live by their parents’ expectations.
“Pastor’s kids always face this thing where there’s so much pressure on them to conform to a certain kind of lifestyle that their parents want them to live,” he said.
“I was under so much pressure,” Spyro added.
