Spryro, a Nigerian artist, has spoken up about his upbringing as the child of a pastor, and how it has influenced his life and career.
During an interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo on the Just Chude podcast, the musician discussed his childhood experiences as the kid of a pastor.
“My dad is a pastor and it was difficult growing up with a pastor,” he began in between laughter. “You’re going to have to be in church whether or not you want to be in church, you must love God by force. He made us study the Bible from cover to cover, whether you like it or not,” he added.
Spryro playfully recalled his strict upbringing, particularly the mandatory Bible study sessions and morning devotions, which were arranged at the most inconvenient times.
He went on to say, “The annoying thing was the morning devotion, it was when sleep was getting deepest that they would wake you up for morning devotion. What the thing does is that it makes you hate God instead of loving him because it’d be like, ‘This God wey wan ruin my life’.
The musician admitted that his upbringing was so strict that when he was admitted to university, he saw it as an escape from his daily routine at home.
He said, “It was crazy, trust me it was a crazy experience. When I got into uni I saw it as my freedom and I never returned home for about four years. I was like, ‘Thank you Jesus for this open door,’ you know? I was waiting for it and I took it, then I didn’t even turn back.”
However, he acknowledged the beneficial aspects of his strict religious upbringing, adding that his parents’ lessons and fear of God have not left him to this day.
“The good thing about having pastor parents is that even though I don’t like the approach and everything, that fear of God is still in me. So all through my university, I was saved, I didn’t do it for my parents; I just had the fear of God. That has worked for me until now, to this date, I don’t smoke drink or carry women. All that attests to the fear of God because my dad and mum aren’t here but God is seeing me,” he explained.
