Waje - Teenage Motherhood x Betrayal

Nigerian music star Waje offered a deeply affecting, no-holds-barred look into her career and personal life during her appearance on the Honest Bunch Podcast, presented by Glitch Africa Studios. The conversation, captured in the footage from the Glitch Africa Studios channel, details the challenges Waje faced as a teenage mother and an artist striving for recognition and fair compensation.

Waje (Vivian) revealed she became pregnant at age 17, right after secondary school. This decision had immediate repercussions, particularly for her mother, a church leader, who was advised to resign from her position due to having a daughter with a teenage pregnancy. Waje confessed that her mother "never really found herself after that," and Waje carried deep hurt over how the church treated her mom.

A significant portion of the interview focused on Waje’s contribution to the massive P-Square hit "Do Me," where she provided the powerful female vocals. Despite the song's widespread success, Waje stated unequivocally, "I didn't make any money" from it. She explained that at the time, many artists were not fully equipped with information on royalties or their fair share. The lack of credit meant Waje had to resort to telling people in the market, "Oh that's my voice," to confirm her contribution.

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Waje also detailed missing the opportunity to appear in the "Do Me" music video, which was shot in South Africa, because she didn't have a passport or visa and was told she couldn't obtain the necessary documents in the two-week timeframe. This lack of documentation also cost her a later opportunity to perform at Chimamanda Adichie’s first book reading in the UK. Furthermore, Waje disclosed that her first record deal was a prohibitive 10-year, five-album deal. This lengthy contract contributed to her feeling like a "late bloomer" because she wasn't widely noticed until her middle 20s, unlike peers who broke out earlier.

Addressing her family life, Waje shared the painful revelation that when she approached the father's family about the pregnancy, the father denied paternity, saying "No it's not him". Her mother's unwavering support led her to claim the child as her own, stating, "the child is mine now". Years later, the father re-entered their lives, and Waje facilitated a meeting between him and their daughter, Emerald, in Los Angeles, believing her daughter "needs to know who her dad is". However, the relationship grew complicated when the father delayed filing for Emerald's citizenship, forcing Waje to pay for her daughter’s education at Middlesex University in dollars. Waje admitted she was "mad" about the financial strain, which could have been avoided.

Reflecting on her past, Waje stressed that she holds herself accountable for her choices, emphasizing that her mother is "in no way responsible for me having a kid at that age". She concluded by advising young artists to separate their professional and personal lives, urging them to "let business be business". The appearance on the Honest Bunch Podcast offered a vital platform for Waje to share her story of survival, resilience, and growth.