“How good people and family saved me from depression and suicide” – Chinko Ekun recounts

Oladipo Emmanuel, better known by his stage name Chinko Ekun, a fast-rising rapper and songwriter, has shared how kind people prevented him from developing depression.

In an interview with Saturday Beats, he claimed that having positive people in his life prevented him from becoming depressed during difficult times.

He claimed that at the time, he had just ended his relationship with his record label and had lost money in an investment fraud.

“When everything happened, I could not handle the trauma. I was told to leave the house. In order to clear my head, I had to move to the Lagos mainland to Victoria Island. I had to leave my comfort zone. While on the island, I did not have many friends; mostly acquaintances.

“If one is down, one must have good people around one. My lawyer, my best friend, my DJ, my manager and my video director were always there for me. My family never left me. They always encouraged me to never give up. The good people around me helped me during that period of my life.”

The graduate of Law from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State, while speaking on education, insisted that schooling was not the only form of education.

He said, “Education is quite ambiguous. I am a rapper, and I think like one. There is a difference between education and schooling. I feel education encompasses both learning outside and being inside the four walls of a classroom.”

The rapper also stated that thoughts of his loved ones held him back when the thought of suicide flashed through his mind. He said, “Mine was not really a major suicidal thought as some people think it to be. It just flashed through my mind. I could not kill myself because I had to think of the pain I would cause my family and friends. I saw it as being selfish.”

Sparing some words of advice for people going through trying times, Ekun said, “Irrespective of the situation you find yourself; don’t give up. Just make sure you eat and drink water very well. No matter what I went through, I always ate and slept well. Meanwhile, around that time, I had lost a lot of money to an investment scam.”