He Won. Then He Buried His Father Same Year

Hey Afropolitan family,

Some conversations stay with you long after the cameras stop rolling.

This is one of them.

"I went through my addiction phase because I was running away from spending time with those thoughts."

That's Iyanya. One of Nigeria's biggest music stars. The man who gave us Kukere. The voice behind a generation of Afropop.

But before the sold-out shows and the global tours, there was a 22-year-old kid standing on the Project Fame stage — winning the biggest music competition in Nigeria the same year he buried his father.

Same year. Same man. Highest of highs. Lowest of lows.

Then his mother. Then his brother. Three family members in two years.

And somewhere between the grief and the glory, he was supposed to board Dana Air Flight 992 in 2012. The flight that crashed and killed 153 people.

Something told him to stay back.

Why him? Hey

That question haunted him for years.

On grief and success:

"You built the castle. But the castle is empty." Iyanya spoke about how every win reminded him of who wasn't there to celebrate it. Success became a haunting.

On addiction:

"I was running away from spending time with those thoughts." He didn't hide from the truth — he numbed it. Stayed busy. Kept moving. Until he couldn't anymore.

On Surviving:

He was supposed to be on that Dana Air flight. He wasn't. 153 people died. For years, he carried the weight of that question: Why me?

On Anger:

"I was angry at God. Angry at the world. Angry at myself for even being born to people who I didn't see anymore." Because being born meant having people to love. And loving them meant losing them.

On what saved him:

Not a formula. Not a framework. Grace. A few good people who told him the truth. And learning to sit in the grief instead of sprinting past it.

On his new album:

"For Esther's Song" is a dedication to his father — the man who never got to see Kukere go global. Never saw his son become a cultural export. Never knew how far he'd go.

🎬Watch the full episode

17 years in the industry. Three family members buried. A plane crash survived. Addiction overcome. Still here.

That's not a career. That's a resurrection.

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We didn't record this episode to inspire hustle. We recorded it because grief doesn't get enough airtime. And healing shouldn't happen in silence.

Warmly,
Chika & Eche
Co-Hosts, Afropolitan Podcast