My parents were free – Rapper Vector shares insights about his childhood

• Vector in a recent podcast, discussed how his parents contributed to his resilient outlook to life.
• He acknowledged his parents for their parenting style, noting that they treated all of them equally

Nigerian rapper Vector recently opened up about his childhood and the values instilled in him by his parents.

In a conversation with Chude Jideonwo on the ‘With Chude‘ show, Vector discussed how his upbringing shaped his resilient mindset and approach to life.

Vector attributed his determination and strong will to his childhood experiences, stating that his parents encouraged him to pursue his goals.

Vector appreciated his parents’ balanced parenting style, which avoided favoritism, but instead focused on supporting each child’s individual needs.

In his words:

“My childhood has put me in that ‘whatever the weather, what I want to do is what I do’ mindset. Plus, I was detached and stubborn, like my mum and grandma would say. I was the one that would always ask, ‘Why do the Yoruba people always say the elders are always right?’ and I’d be like, ‘That’s a lie.“

“I learnt how to self-reflect. You know, African parents are usually on default mode of parenting, so they liked everyone. I think they did their best not to show who their favourite was because in my house is a sickle cell warrior. You’d have thought she got the most care because she’s a warrior, and to show you how dope the care is, she has 2 children now. They had no favourites, and they dealt with us as we were.”

“At a point in the house, they even started calling me Vector the viper because that’s what I identified with. Even my brother is a DJ and they’d call him that. So my parents were kind of free but they made you work for what you believed in and what you needed or wanted to do. I felt loved regardless and I think I grew up sheltered, not sheltered in the sense of a silver spoon though”.