Okyeame Kwame Speaks About Why Many Artists Become Drug Addicts.

Famous Ghanaian singer, rapper, and entrepreneur, Okyeame Kwame, recently talked about why many artists and creative people start using drugs. He said in an interview on Joy Prime after a documentary by Kwame Dadzie on JoyNews came out.

Okyeame Kwame explained that lots of creative folks turn to drugs because they don’t like thinking deeply about their problems and mistakes. So, they use things like alcohol, sex, or drugs to avoid facing their issues.

“If you close your eyes and sit down for 10 seconds, immediately, all the problems you have in life will come into your brain because your brain is so smart that it’s always trying to solve your problem. So immediately you keep quiet, all your problems come up.

“That is why people are always trying to watch a movie, always trying to read a book, trying to talk to somebody, trying to have sex, trying to drink alcohol, and trying to smoke something to divert their brains from dealing with their problems”.

He said when you’re alone and quiet, your brain starts thinking about everything bothering you. And people don’t like that, so they distract themselves with movies, books, or by talking to others. Some turn to drinking or drugs to numb their feelings.

“And that is the time when artists are not willing to sit down quietly for their thoughts to punish them. But immediately they feel the problems come up, they take it, and then all the problems will go away because they have numbed their pain receptors…” he said.

Okyeame Kwame also shared his own story about dealing with feeling sad and how he spent a whole year in quiet thinking time. He didn’t make music, go out, or even answer phone calls during this time. He just sat quietly and thought. This helped him make his successful “Made in Ghana” album.

“Somebody else could have resorted to becoming a sex addict to fulfill the emptiness or becoming a drug addict to fulfill the emptiness. But I let it beat me up. I sat down quietly for one year. I didn’t make any music, I didn’t go anywhere, I didn’t pick up my phone calls. I took my phone away for one year.

“I stopped everything and I sat down quietly, and went into meditation. So it was immediately after that [period] that I made the ‘Made in Ghana’ album,” he said.

He advised other creative people not to run away from their thoughts but to face them and find solutions. He said it’s important to deal with problems instead of hiding from them with drugs or other distractions.

Read also;

• Ghanaian Veteran actor Timothy Bentum Shares How He Battles With Drug Addiction.