How Inflation Almost Pushed Me Into Depression – Nigerian Rapper MI Abaga

Popular rapper and music producer, Jude Lemfani Abaga, better known by his stage name M.I Abaga, has disclosed how he recently battled depression while preparing for his wedding.

MI made this disclosure at the weekend at TM Con, a premiere conference, connecting key players in the tech and media space and equipping the creative community with required knowledge.

According to Mr. Incredible, he was close to getting depressed this year while planning for his wedding.

Recall that the award-winning rapper and music executive, who changed his stage name to ‘The Guy’, tied the knot with Eniola Mafe in 2022.

MI narrated how the wedding preparations were tough for him as he had so many things that required financial attention going on at the same time.

”So, I don’t think I’ve ever been depressed. When I listen to people that have got depression, it doesn’t sound like an experience I’ve had.

“Even though I feel like I’ve been very close. And I think that the closest I was to it was this year. Maybe like four months before I got married, my album had moved and I thought my album was going to come out in February, my fiance had moved back to Nigeria.

“It was just a tough time for us and my wedding and all these changes. Inflation is happening at the same time. There are just so many things happening.”

According to him, he got to the point of giving up and listening to the negative thoughts in his mind but remembering that he had to emotionally regulate himself to continue the race.

“There was a day I woke up. I just was telling myself, you’ve tried, you’ve given them, MI if you go back to Jos, nobody would say anything. I believe that for people that get into depression, I’m looking at where I was and how difficult it was for me to emotionally regulate myself.

Speaking further, he advised young creatives to stay motivated and learn to speak good of themselves.

“My heart goes out to those who go through depression. I don’t have an answer, but one of the things I will say is that your self-talk is very important. Most of us have an opinion of ourselves. That is very bad. We don’t believe that we can keep our word. We don’t believe that we can do what it takes to achieve great things. You don’t really believe that we can be trusted, we don’t really believe that we are really valuable, deserving of love. So, when somebody says something nice to you, you are in doubt.”