Why I Cried At The Beginning— Kcee Opens Up On Years Of Industry Neglect

Why I Cried At The Beginning— Kcee Opens Up On Years Of Industry Neglect

OpenLife reports that Nigerian singer Kcee has revisited the emotional and professional hurdles he encountered while building his career, describing moments where he felt consistently ignored despite years of dedication and hard work in the music industry.

In a conversation on Afrobeats Intelligence, he spoke candidly about how discouraging it was to remain active in the industry without receiving what he believed was fair recognition for his efforts.

“To be honest, I grew up in an industry that was not fair to… and giving my best and the industry was not recognising,” he said.
He explained that while he kept pushing forward creatively, the lack of nominations and award recognition made the journey painful, even though his audience remained loyal and supportive throughout.

“The fans were the ones behind me. I did a lot of work, and they were not nominating me for awards. And I cried. I was pained. Right now, whether I win awards or not, I do not care. I prefer the rewards to the awards. It affected everything and not just music,” he added.

Despite those difficult moments, Kcee said his career took a major turn with the release of his hit song Limpopo, which he described as a defining moment that changed his life trajectory and opened international doors for him.

“When ‘Limpopo’ came, I was in tears that God had answered my prayers. It took me into the global market straight away. After all the years I have worked with Presh, that is the biggest record I have ever done,” he said.

He also noted that the success of the song brought significant financial gains, especially through ringback tune earnings, which were a major revenue stream during that period.

“‘Limpopo’ gave me a lot of money from ringback tunes. We were making hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said.

Kcee further reflected on the viral impact of his more recent track Ojapiano, which gained massive traction on TikTok and sparked renewed discussions about his place in the industry rankings.

“When I dropped ‘Ojapiano’ today. The next day, it was doing 120,000 videos on TikTok in one day. It happened for seven days. And that raised a conversation in the industry like ‘Why is Kcee not sitting at number one on the Apple Store?”

He says today his focus is less on awards and more on the reach, influence, and financial rewards his music continues to generate globally.