Chief Executive Officer of Lynx Group Limited, Richie Mensah, has revealed how his mother was verbally attacked for supporting his decision to pursue music instead of medicine.
Speaking on Changes with Roselyn Felli on Joy Prime, Richie said many people expected him to study medicine after completing senior high school. However, he chose music—with the full backing of his mother.
“When I started my journey, I was 17 and a lot of people said I was too young. I finished senior high and had a convo with my mum, telling her I wanted to do music. It was a big shocker because everybody expected me to go to medical school,” he recounted.
He said he gave himself a year to explore music and opened a studio during that period. His mother, observing the progress, continued to support him despite backlash from others.
“So many people insulted her and said she was allowing her son to waste his intelligence and future. They asked why I was doing music instead of going to study medicine,” Richie said.
He explained that this experience inspired his hit song ‘Yaro’, which addresses the doubts and criticism he faced at the beginning of his career.
“When I released my first song, many people didn’t believe I would make it. But eventually, I did. So ‘Yaro’ in Hausa means ‘small boy.’ I was saying, ‘They say I be Yaro, but they can’t contest the Yaro.’”
Richie said the song is meant to inspire young people not to let others limit their potential because of their age or unconventional choices.