Gyakie has opened up about the immense pressure she faced at the start of her music career.
The musician whose real name is Jackline Acheampong, popularly known said in an interview with BBC Africa, the “Forever” hitmaker revealed how overwhelming expectations and harsh criticism affected her emotional well-being during her rise to fame.
“If I am pressured or shouted at, I am going to grab a tissue and cry. So I don’t like to be pressured and shouted at,” Gyakie confessed, describing her sensitivity to the demands of the music industry.
She recalled the difficult early days following the success of her breakout hit, Forever, a song that catapulted her onto the global stage but also brought an immense weight of expectation.
“At the beginning of my career, I would cry at home almost every three days because the pressure was too much. Especially when Forever blew up.
The expectations were high for me to come out with another hit song,” she shared, giving fans a glimpse of the emotional toll her newfound fame took on her.
The young artist noted that while some pressure can serve as motivation, the criticism she received often felt harsh and unconstructive.
“It’s good when it feels like motivation, but it’s different when it’s… different,” she said, struggling to articulate the sting of negativity disguised as feedback.
Over time, Gyakie learned to cope with the negativity and find resilience in the face of public scrutiny. “It took me a while to not really let it get to me,” she admitted, adding that she now handles baseless criticisms with humor and perspective.
“But now, I could see anything about me where the person knows what he is saying is not true, and I would be like, ‘Somebody should give me some water to drink because the country is already hard,’” she joked, lightheartedly acknowledging the realities of life in Ghana while reflecting on her personal growth.
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