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Konnected Minds Podcast
Konnected Minds: Success, Wealth & Mindset. This show helps ambitious people crush limiting beliefs and build unstoppable confidence.
Created and Hosted by Derrick Abaitey
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Konnected Minds Podcast
From Darkness to Dancing with Beyoncé: A Journey of Perseverance - DanceGod
What happens when talent meets hardship? Dance God's journey from rejection to global recognition reveals the transformative power of perseverance.
From the moment DanceGod sits down with Derrick Abaitey on Konnected Minds Podcast, raw emotion permeates his storytelling. He describes the isolation he felt after leaving his former dance crew—facing public ridicule, depression, and questioning his path forward. Yet this darkness preceded his brightest moments. When an unexpected call from Dubai led to choreographing for the UAE government during his lowest point, it confirmed what he had always believed: his gift was meant for something greater.
Dance God doesn't shy away from discussing exploitation in the creative industry. "I've done a lot of dance challenges that were viral for years, and I made no money," he shares, explaining how artists benefited from his creativity while he struggled financially. This honesty unveils the business education many talented performers learn too late. His 2023 decision to demand proper compensation marks a turning point not just for himself, but potentially for dancers across Africa.
The founding of Dance Grow Live Academy represents more than just a new beginning—it's Dance God's vision for legacy. With nearly 30 talented performers under his guidance, he's building something designed to outlast his own career. "I want to see them take care of their families through dance. I want to see them inspire their communities," he explains, revealing that true success lies not just in personal achievement but in creating pathways for others.
With over 5 million followers across social platforms and collaborations with global icons like Beyoncé, Dance God's story demonstrates what's possible when talent meets opportunity. Yet his most powerful message transcends dance itself: "Start now. Nothing is too late." Whether you're building a career in arts, business, or any creative pursuit, this conversation will inspire you to recognize your worth and pursue your passions without compromise.
Watch the video episode of this on YouTube - https://linktr.ee/konnectedminds
I've done a lot of dance challenges that were viral for years and I made no money. I was disturbed, I was depressed, I was thinking differently. I felt like I lost myself.
Speaker 2:What was that moment that made you think, wow. Looking back and where I am now.
Speaker 1:I've made it. I remember I got a call from working with artists. They always wanted to ask me to, and it's crazy and I keep questioning myself like why? What lessons did you learn? They also taught me a lesson, a big lesson, when the artists are.
Speaker 2:If somebody is starting out, especially the young people in your group, how can they put themselves together so that they get what they deserve? Hello and welcome to Connected Minds Podcast, and I'm your host, derek Abaite, and today we have an electrifying story that I think would leave you inspired. Imagine going from a low point and being featured in a video with Beyonce. So today I'm going to be speaking with Dance God, and this, our guest, has gone from being laughter to becoming Ganesh Musot. After dancer, he co-founded a dance academy that is changing the lives of millions of people. He's also set himself on a path of starting his own dance academy. Look, this episode is packed with lessons of perseverance, how you can turn your passion into profit and staying true to your vision. So, whether you are commuting in the busy traffic times of Accra or you are jogging in Nairobi, stay tuned, because today's conversation is going to shift your mindset about chasing your dreams. You're welcome to this podcast. Thank you, my brother. How are you doing? Thank you, I'm doing very fine.
Speaker 2:So today I just want to go right in, straight in, okay, and my first question is what was that moment that made you think, wow, looking back and where I am now, I've made it.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's a good question. I've never been asked that question. It's always like what's your breakthrough? But I remember I got a call from someone in Nigeria and the person wanted me to be a part of an art in Dubai. So the people recommended me from Ghana. I was the only artist from Ghana called for that. We were there for like a week and when I got to my hotel room I actually teared up. It's like wow, from Assignment All the way to dubai, uae, and I'm going to be an in an ad that's going to project dubai. That's crazy, that's madness.
Speaker 1:That's when I I was like nah, god is taking me on on a different path and it's not just, it's just to inspire other people the young ones. Because it's just to inspire other people the young ones, because at that moment I had nobody in my life, it was just me. I didn't even know where to go, who to talk to, I was just praying and then I got that message, so like it made me feel some type of way about life, you know, and being consistent, because I was just hopeful at that point. I didn't have anybody, I didn't have nobody to talk to, I was just dancing and hopeful. And then I got the chance to be featured. I was with one lady called Kopi Aziat from Nairobi, kenya, um aziat from niger, um nairobi, kenya, and um nadia kai from south africa. These are the three people that were in the ad and, bro, it's amazing like how that changed my life and my perception about life. I feel like I never. Let me put it this way. I want to be very particular with my words. I just knew I could dance. I knew I could move to the rhythm of any song, but I didn't know it was beyond dance. I just thought I'll just dance, be in music videos, dance behind artists because that was like my mindset when I wanted to dance, because that was the only thing that I could do. But fast forward me being a choreographer for an art shot in Middle East. That's crazy, that's different, that's mind blowing. That's me moving to the next level. You get my point. Like me shaking grounds, me changing the whole dance, the whole culture, the dance culture.
Speaker 1:Now I got messages from Nigeria, south of like. I got messages from almost everyone that looked up to me and used to text me. Bro, we thought that was your end, you know, and you doing this. That means that we shouldn't give up, we shouldn't look down on ourselves, we shouldn't belittle the little talent that god has given us. Bro, and he paid. Well, I'm not even going to lie like I mean that money's gonna. It's still there, you know, like I still have some money in my account from that project. So that means that, like whenever I'm talking about this stuff, it makes me emotional.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because I remember that very day when I had a call and I remember the situation I was in. What was that situation? I had left a team. There were news circulating about me being selfish, blah, blah, blah. No one wanted to look at me, no one wanted to have a conversation with me, and the fact that I was not talking and I was dancing. I had not done any job in like About A year. In nine months Getting to a year, I had not done any proper job, something that's going to bring me a lot of money.
Speaker 1:Then, boom, I get a call. It's not like I've done something that's whole year that I like is gonna, like you know, make me feel like, oh, at least people are watching me because I've gone like low key. So me getting that call, the guy was like I saw your video on youtube and I think you're the right person for this job. I googled your name. I said I don't know anything about dance, I just googled your name and then I actually went through your social media and like you fit in. Wow, yes, I thought it was just those people you know. Sometimes you get calls from people and it ends there. He called again the next week and he was like bro, I'm going to be in a Zoom meeting with you, with the people from the government, the Dubai government, and you have to be ready. You have to say something that's going to make them want to choose you Already. An agency recommended me there, but the government wants to know who this guy is and why I be choosing him.
Speaker 1:I didn't even say anything. I didn't say anything when we go on the call. I just smiled and I was like my name is Downsville, I introduced myself and that's it. They were going to question me, ask me have I been to Dubai? Do I think about what? Do I think about Dubai? They never asked me a question, they just asked me to introduce myself and the next week I was in Dubai.
Speaker 1:Everything just moved fast, fast, yeah, fast. I only believed, and I think before that I had done the dance challenge for Kim Promise Terminator and it was just picking up. So I didn't connect Terminator to the fact that these people are trying to reach out to me, you know. So I questioned myself way too many times and then I I was like you know what is god's doing? That's right, it is god, it can only be god. Because I had a lot of people the media I had never I. I had a lot of people trying to reach out to me for music videos, interviews. I didn't accept any of this. I didn't grant any interview, I didn't do any job. I was trying to find myself. Then, boom, this, wow wow.
Speaker 2:So if somebody had told you 15 years ago that you were going to be who you are today and you were going to be in a music video with Beyonce, how would you have felt?
Speaker 1:at the time. So I quite remember when I was in high school I went to Persec Ligon. A senior walked up to me and was like you're special. You don't dance normal, like I watch people dance, but when you dance I feel different. I feel like you're going to do something great with dance. You're going to be dancing with top top icons. I didn't really pay attention to that. I was like, okay, thank you. And then I moved on.
Speaker 1:But when I started using social media, I realized everything everybody was just were just gravitating to me. People top top artists were following me from nowhere and I didn't even know what I was doing, you know. So when I did the challenge for Beyonce, I just did it for doing sick. Yeah, because everyone was expecting dance Girl to jump on the dance challenge. So when I did it, I was like I was actually sick, right, I was like let me just do it. Something was telling me no, there's a reason why I'm feeling sick on this day that I want to do the dance. Let me just do it, whatever happens. I did it because I was feverish. I did it in about 20, feverish. I did it In about 20 minutes after I had posted the views. That was my highest views in a very long time.
Speaker 1:At that moment, people were just texting me, bro. I had a lot of people messaging me, like people that I used to look up to telling me why do I have a feeling you are going to be in this music video? Yeah, people say things. We'll do a video tag Chris Brown. I'm like, oh yeah, I wish Chris Brown would see this. But about that particular song and that moment, I just felt different. So I did a video and I said if Beyonce put me in this music video, I'm going to walk a certain way. I think I posted it on my Instagram and everyone was like yeah, yeah, people were just manifesting saying things on Twitter, instagram, their stories. Then, boom, beyonce posted me and she made a collection and then she put all of us in a story. Wow, I'm like is this thing manifesting? Like, am I actually going to be in the music video? So then I didn't say anything, not knowing her choreographer the lead choreographer was following me and I didn't even know. So he sent me a message Quickly. I followed him and I messaged him back and he was like we are going to try our very best to get you in the music video.
Speaker 1:Within a week or two, I got another message from an amazing videographer from. He's a Ghanaian, but he lives in New York. He messaged me like I'm coming to Ghana and I want to talk to you about being in a music video for being a Zipro, like that's when everything started making sense. To me it's like that that young guy from with big dreams wanted to do something with dance, something change the perception about dance in africa has been called out of the many dances in Ghana to be in the music video for Beyonce. Nah, this is a calling. Yeah, this is a calling. This is a prophecy, because when I was young, people used to tell me like I like the way you dance. They would call me to actually come and dance in their house, their homes.
Speaker 2:But the interesting thing is that, even though you love to dance, you're also trying to be a footballer. Yeah, that's crazy, but then you see a lot of footballers around this world who dance as well.
Speaker 1:Asamoah Jan is a good example of that. So when I was very young I explored my world. I used to play football, I used to act and I used to do a little bit of rap. You know all those things with groups who make a little circle and one after the other, we rap. Yeah, I used to play football, I used to dance, but for fun. It was not my thing thing, it was soccer that I wanted to do, because obviously I've seen a lot of people from my neighborhood make it with football. So I wanted to follow that path. But god is different. God is.
Speaker 2:God is the greatest now I just want to take you back to the times where you wanted to be a dancer. How did your family think about that?
Speaker 1:My mom was cool because when I was young I did something, I performed somewhere, and then they brought a lot of money home. Yeah, I got sprayed on with money. So, yeah, and for like I think three times they used that money to pay my school fees. It rang a bell in their head. So this guy can do it. Yeah, I believe him.
Speaker 1:But my dad, it was very different for him he wanted me to go to one of the best schools. You know I went to Persec. He wanted schools. You know I went to persegue. He wanted me to take school. Serious. That's what a typical Ghanaian father would do, you know, to protect me. So, yeah, he did not like the idea.
Speaker 1:My mom, at a point she was okay, but I got to a point I was moving very weird at home, so she did not really support it like that. But she's a mother. Yeah, I think I actually told her. Sat them down. It takes a lot of courage to actually sit your parents down and tell them about dance. They'll be like, ah, so you actually made us sit here, took out one hour to talk about dance, you know. So I told them I want to dance, I will change. I remember my words. I was like whatever you put your mind to, you can make it happen. Whatever you put your mind to, you can make it happen. If it is whatever painting, whatever me, I believe that I can do something with dance and I'm gonna make money out of it, did you?
Speaker 2:did you not feel like you were disappointing them by not following what they?
Speaker 1:I just had to gather courage. I just had to be very hopeful. I was like I was extremely positive, extremely. How do they feel about it now? Now, like you said, we are still in the process. We are still living life.
Speaker 1:I know a lot of people are on standby to see how I'm going to be like in the near future, but you're not God. God is in charge of everything and me. I believe that this thing I'm doing is I'm not just doing it for me, I'm doing it for a whole generation. So I have to be very, very mindful of my movements and everything I feel like. Now. They're super happy yeah, you are praying for me and they are hoping that I do something better with the dance and the opportunity and the grace that I have right now. You know they are happy. They are happy but they are still scared. You know, happy but scared. Right, right, right. You know of the outcome. Yes, because the more I grow, the more I meet challenges as a human being, as a talent, as a brand. You know I'm going to get married. I'm going to have kids. You know, to get to that point, I won't be dancing anymore.
Speaker 1:So all those things they advise me about it. We are more like buddies now. We just talk about things to do. Are more like buddies now. We just talk about things to do, what not to do. But in the beginning they didn't really talk about anything. They didn't really care like that. Okay, maybe they cared, but they didn't show signs. You know how parents are. Yeah, they didn't really show signs. But now they call me, they advise me on certain things sometimes you know.
Speaker 1:When they hear things about me that's like bad, they want to know why and all those things. Yeah, I'm super happy that through dance I'm able to like connect with them on a different level, because me I didn't even know I could have a longer conversation with my dad. The longest conversation I had with my dad was when I was telling him I wanted to dance. We never had any, we never even crossed paths Because he didn't like the idea. He didn't like the idea until I wanted to like, until I think I did. I did a video with my mom and it went viral and I was like I don't know, I'm personal like why don't?
Speaker 1:you want to dance with me, right? Why is it always my mom?
Speaker 2:so I introduced him and then I think, yeah, we came close after that do you blame your parents for taking the stance that they did to make sure that you take the path that they know has led to sustainable success for many people?
Speaker 1:sometimes you have to be stubborn, sometimes go for what your heart is telling you, but it has to be positive. You know, had I not taken this bold step, I wouldn't know that I can actually ignore my parents and do certain things. Okay, you know, I feel like me trying to prove them wrong brought me this far, okay.
Speaker 2:So I just want to tell you something. You are sitting in a space of passion, yeah, and I'm sitting in a space of profession, yeah, in the sense that my father wanted me to become a pharmacist, a doctor or a dentist. Okay, I mean, you recall that we've had some dealings in the past where I was trying to chase my passion in music and it didn't work out. It didn't work out because it wasn't paying before, yeah, so you know there was no support coming through, yeah, but a path that was recommended for me by my parents worked out massively. So I'm just saying that it's beautiful to follow your passion, especially, you know, you are a good example of someone that's followed their passion. There are plenty people, but what are the chances of somebody succeeding in the field of a passion? What are the chances?
Speaker 1:I feel like I don't know. I don't really know, but I gave myself five years. Even after five years, I don't do anything proper with dance. I just quit and go and find something better to do. You know, but I had had in me. I realized that dance, dance was the only thing that made me feel free. So I had to, I had to find ways, creative ways, ways that can help me make money from dancing without any artists, any support from any artists.
Speaker 2:It was challenging wow, if I take you back to the entire process up until now, what do you think has been your most darkest moment that made you feel like giving up?
Speaker 1:when I started getting backlashes from people on the internet, backlashes from people on the internet about me leaving my ex-dance crew. They didn't know the story, so I don't know why everyone felt like it was the truth, you know. So I was disturbed, I was depressed, I was thinking differently, I felt like I lost myself. You know my name the fame, because I was thinking about fame at that moment. I was thinking about so I'm gonna go like nobody's going to see me again, you know. But that actually helped me. How did you bounce?
Speaker 1:back from that. It was my darkest moments, but my blessing in disguise. Like I started getting voice notes from people I didn't even know were looking out for me. These were like like top people. These were like top people sending me voice notes. Some were calling Don't give up. I've seen this before. Some people leave teams and that's the end. Others also leave and they become different. They become greater.
Speaker 1:I remember my dad called me in the middle of the night, like midnight. My dad does not call me at that time. He will not even call. If I want to talk to my dad, I have to go through my mum, but he called me. If I want to talk to my dad, I have to go through my mom, but he called me.
Speaker 1:It's like all these things happen to the greatest. Wow, that's been my motive. Like it made me, like I connected a lot of dots. Like anytime something happened in my life, my dad would call me. I don't know how he finds out, maybe I'm in some, so he knows me better. Was like tough things. Uh, there's a, there's a, there's a saying something I forgot, but he said something like that I. It was like all these things happen to the greatest. So just keep your head up, and it made me child.
Speaker 1:I was like this in the beginning. After that call, I was like I'm ready for the world, let's go. I started traveling after that time, I started moving from one place to the other. I started doing crazy things. I did a lot of like it's 2023, 2024. That's when I did like all my dance challenges went viral. It was like I just needed to refresh my mind. I was invited to a lot of homes. People don't know about this, but people were inviting me to their homes to talk to me. They were worried To me. I had nobody watching. I felt like I left. Everyone left me.
Speaker 3:But in 2023, 2024, I had everybody calling you felt a sense of loneliness, I felt like yes, for a very long time it's like no, this is not me.
Speaker 1:Imagine you have about 30 people you see every day, you feel like they're family, and all of a sudden, all those 30 people are against you or they are normal. You don't see them. Sometimes you see them, you can't even get close because you don't even know what's going on. I had to put myself together. I had to actually talk to myself every day when I wake up. Talk to myself, I pray, Get on the road. See, I steady the game, Self-actualization. That's when I didn't even know that I could do so many things. I didn't know. I just thought, bro, I'm just dancing and you know if you like it, fine. If you don't like it, I'm't know. I just thought, bro, I'm just dancing and you know if you like it, fine, If you don't like it, I'm doing me. I didn't know I can actually have new people under my arms.
Speaker 2:Let me stop you here for a minute. If you've been watching this show, I want you to subscribe and become part of the family. We are on a journey of changing the lives of people on this channel and we appreciate you for being here. But if you haven't become part of the family, connect with us. Hit the subscribe button Now. Let's carry on the conversation.
Speaker 2:You know when in QI, I think, there's a proverb that simply translates to the person that is constructing the road doesn't know how bent or crooked it is behind them. You know, when you're under the leadership of someone and you are a good observer, you're able to see the mistakes of that leader. And some people what they try to do is that they try to sit with the leader to put forth those, will I say, complaints or changes or whatever it is that they feel inside. But some people do take a bold step to say that, no, every mistake that I'm seeing when I break out, I'm going to make mine better. There's nothing wrong with that. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. As a matter of fact, the world thrives on that. People must think different and do things differently. That is the beauty of this world. The different shapes, colors forms. What I really want to delve into is the lessons you learned from your previous group that allowed you to start yours. What lessons did you learn?
Speaker 1:My ex-dance group taught me a lot Discipline, number one. Two, love, unity. Three, endurance. That's the last one because when I started my new team, dance grow and live academy, I just knew there were a lot of talents around the world in Ghana, africa but I didn't know. I didn't know, I didn't know that it's not just about talent. I just thought it was talent, talent, talent. I didn't know about it when I was in my previous. I was just like I get a talent, we work.
Speaker 1:Talent is talent. You like talent, but you can be very talented and still be wherever you are. You never move. You need discipline, you need to be together, you need to love each other, you need to be, you need to have that zeal, that anger in you, that fire. That's how someone is gonna like get attracted to you, because they see the passion in your eyes, even through, like your movements, even when you look at them. In these days they call it aura. I didn't know about all these things when I was in the past. I just thought we were just dancing and having fun, people were just loving us.
Speaker 1:But when I, when I came out of it it took me a while step by step, started with 5 people. Then I had 40 people. Then it came down to 10. That's suck. A lot of people, okay, because they wanted the affiliation. You didn't care about it. That's how I'm a dance good Lord. I'm okay doing all sorts of weird stuff around. So to dissolve everybody and I called 10. The first five people I was working with those were my people. Then I added 10 more and it became 20. Now we are almost 30. And I feel like we are ready. For the past two years we've been moving step by step. We are growing. We are ready. For the past two years we've been moving step by step. We're growing, we are fitting in, people are loving us, and it's just two years.
Speaker 2:Now, what I really want to understand is in the previous interview where you spoke about you being a co-founder in the previous group. Now, how did you guys in the beginning decide who the leader was going to be?
Speaker 1:decide who the leader is going to be. Yeah, we did not decide, we did everything. We, we gave each other a role. Huh, what was your? My role was to fish the talents. Okay, and because I'm like more like you know, have too much energy, I did extra. Okay, like we go on stage and I'm like you know, I I used to like motivate them a lot, because sometimes someone will come to dance class and he or she is not in a good mood because maybe his dad or her dad said something, went and found a job to do.
Speaker 1:Why are you always dancing? So I have to always motivate them, psych them up. So I was more like that, but I don't think you chose a leader.
Speaker 2:Were you happy with the leadership?
Speaker 1:there were a lot of things that we could work on, but you know, working in a group is it's like sometimes you have to be a fool that was good.
Speaker 2:do you feel like there was more you could have done in that group that you did not do? Yeah. Okay. Is that a reason why you started yours? No, why did?
Speaker 1:you start your group. I started my own group because I realized there are a lot of talents. There are a lot of talents and even I cry. And these people keep coming to me. You know, they keep saying I want to train under you, I want to be under you, I want you to focus on me, I want to make you proud. But when we are there and they come, it's not like that, because I have a lot of things that are only me, the things that I think about, about myself. I have a lot the things that I used to think about some of the people in the team that's already. There were a lot.
Speaker 1:So how am I going to have time for you, the newbie? I'm not going to have time, I'm not going to pay attention. So I realised and there were a lot of things that were happening that I was like you know what? I'm not too happy about it and I don't want to go back and forth with anybody. I just want to be me. I just want to be me, I just want to have fun, I just want to enjoy my, my journey, you know. So I believe that the new people that I'm working with are people that are willing to push dance to a different level. They are willing to see and they love my vision. You know like I want them to do extraordinary stuff with dance in Ghana and I like how passionate they are about the dance, like I see it in their eyes. Did you feel?
Speaker 2:appreciated in the previous group.
Speaker 1:Sometimes yeah, Sometimes no, it was on and off, you know.
Speaker 2:There was an internal battle you were having with yourself.
Speaker 1:I don't know. At that point me, I didn't know what was going on in my life. Like I said, I didn't really pay attention to anything. All I knew was we loved each other and we were dancing. You know, no one actually lectured me on so many things.
Speaker 2:So now you break off.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you get the idea. I want to start my own group. That comes at some point and again, look, kudos to you. You've done a fantastic job with that group. But you know what's the plan, the future plan for that group, dgl.
Speaker 1:Dance, grow live. Wow.
Speaker 1:The future plan is to see the legacy live forever. The future plan is to create success for everyone in the team. I'm not going to dance for my whole life. I want to be at home and I see Dance, Go, Live Academy, the future around things in Ghana, in Africa, in the world. I want to see them take care of their families through dance. I want to see them inspire their communities. I want to see a lot of great talents coming out of Africa because of Dance, Grow and Live. I want to see someone say I am who I am because I used to look up to Dance, Grow and Live. I used to look up to dance, grow and live. I used to look up to these people in this team. So it's not even about myself, it's not even about those in the team. It's about these three things Dance, grow and live, do you think, dance?
Speaker 2:as you have seen, it is enough to take care of you up until pension time yeah, I've saved a lot.
Speaker 1:I've saved a lot of money and I have a very beautiful team around me who are always planning ahead, who are always putting me on my toes, who are advising me on what to invest my money in, who to work with, how to spend my money, like basically managing my finances for me. So I I believe, obviously, as an entrepreneur, I would love to do other things in my life.
Speaker 2:What are some other things that you think you can invest your money in to expand your portfolio?
Speaker 1:A lot of things as time goes on we'll find. You never know. Sometimes I can just tell you what I want to do with my money, but I might go home and it will be a different, a different new idea will come, you know. So gradually it's going to pick up.
Speaker 2:Because the reason I say that is because recently I saw that you bought a beautiful car. Yeah, and I love it yeah.
Speaker 2:It's one of my dream cars. Right, it's a beautiful car. The question that was running through my mind is, as a young person, when you make money and the car is the first I've seen from you, but the biggest question is how about accommodation? That was what was running through my head, so I thought you know what, let me not just think about it. When you come out, I'll ask you how about accommodation? That was what was running through my head, so I thought you know what, let me not just think about it. When you come, I'll ask you.
Speaker 1:How about accommodation? Yes, okay, when it comes, I'll come here. I'll come back here to talk about my accommodation, okay. However, I want to live my life depends on me. Actually, I'm not living this life to impress anybody. Like I said, I want to inspire the next generation. If I have a car and you're thinking about why didn't I buy a house first and I bought a car, that's up to you, that's in your head. That's how you feel I live this life with no regrets. If I've bought a car, and you feel I live this life with no regrets if I've. If I've bought a car and you think I should buy a house, that's fine. When the time comes for me to buy a house, I'll buy the house and that's fine with me, because I'm not.
Speaker 1:I'm not trying to live my life like everybody. I try to be very different. I feel like as an individual or as a young talent like me. People try to put their pressure on you. People try to um, I don't know how to put it. People want you to do what they think is best for you. Right, you know, but where were they when you were struggling? Where were they when you had nobody to talk to? And you're talking to yourself and you're praying to God for opportunities. Why didn't they call me? So? Why are they trying to advise me? Because I saw a lot of comments. I think you should buy a normal car and you have to go and buy a house a lot of things. Can you just say congratulations and move?
Speaker 1:on you know, if that time comes, that I don't have any money again, you still come and talk, so I feel like everyone has their own opinion about things that we do as a celebrity?
Speaker 2:I don't know, especially if your. Your. Everything is online, right? Yeah, you know I was not.
Speaker 1:I was not even going to post about this thing. I mean, everyone has his own opinion about things and yeah me, I come from a very humble home, so obviously I'll be thinking about house, what's on my head and everything, but yeah.
Speaker 2:It's in stages, yeah.
Speaker 1:I come from a humble home, so I don't think I need to answer everybody about what I'm trying to do in my life. No, that's not a thing for me. I like to be low key If I have a house, you see Now that I have a car. You've seen it, Don't question why? Oh, Ghana.
Speaker 2:My motherland. All right, ghana, my motherland alright. As a dancer, you know. I can only imagine how you've had to struggle to get through. You know your money, conversations with artists who tell you to do, do a dance for them, do a challenge, and what not. How have you been able to navigate that?
Speaker 1:it's difficult, it's the most difficult thing working with artists, do a dance for them, do a challenge and whatnot. How have you been able to navigate that? It's difficult, it's the most difficult thing Working with artists, brands, working with management. You always want to outsmart you Always. There's no time that I'll be like, ah, you're worth this, let me give you this. Always want to ask months. And it's crazy.
Speaker 1:And I keep questioning myself. I keep questioning myself like why Don't you think I want to make money for myself? Of course you do so. Why do you want to make money for your artists but you don't want to make money? You don't want to help me make money. You need my service. My service is going to help your artists grow one way or the other. Why don't you want to at least compensate your family? Why do you want to do family with me? And then I see your artists in a big car looking all flashy and I'll be walking. No, it does not make sense. So I've questioned all my like.
Speaker 1:That's the reason why people see dancers, content creators, whatever, as nobody, because we want to like oh artists, oh artists, everything artists. I don't hate any artists. I really love people that do music. I feel like they are different. Right, Like to say something with your mouth and everybody say the same thing. That's, you're a genius. But can we also talk about the fact that you have people who are supporting their music? You have people who are making their music come true, their words, whatever they envision. We, the content creators, make that come true, so they should really pay attention to us. The chicken change is not going to help, because we also want to change our lives too. That's right. You know, we want to move to. We want to move from A to Z. So if you're moving from A to Z, at least take us to C. But you want us to be at A? No, that's fine, that's not fine. Most of the time. They don't want to pay? No, most's fine, that's not fine.
Speaker 2:Most of the time they don't want to pay.
Speaker 1:No, most of the time they were not paying. They were not paying in the beginning and I really got sad. I got super sad. That's why I started doing my own thing. Got to a point I was doing music just to help my career. I didn't do it because I felt like I was better than any artist, because I felt like I was not making money from anybody.
Speaker 2:If somebody is starting out, especially the young people in your group, what are you going to tell them? How can they put themselves together so that they get what they deserve?
Speaker 1:Just know that people are going to exploit you, me. I was exploited way too many times, but it also taught me a lesson, a big lesson when the artists, or when the people come to you, they're going to come like my brother you're my brother do this for me. It's just a one minute thing. If you get carried away, the fact that you're working with this artist and that artist, this artist is big, that's when you're going to lose it. So if I say I lost myself, these are the things I'm talking about.
Speaker 1:I got carried away with the fact that I was working with top, top artists in Ghana. I was not making any bread Real talk Facts. I was not making. I'd done a lot of dance challenges for two Dance challenges that were viral for years, and I made no money by the time I realized, bro, time was fast spent and those artists were. They skyrocketed and I was found just wanting, you know. So I had to change my how. I thought I was just helping and I was making a name for myself, but I realized, bro, there was nothing coming into my pocket. And this is where we're getting like amazing streams, you know, getting shows everywhere, and nobody cared about me.
Speaker 2:Let me stop you here for a minute. If you've been watching this show, I want you to subscribe and become part of the family. We are on a journey of changing the lives of people on this channel and we appreciate you for being here, but if you haven't become part of the family, connect with us, hit the subscribe button and let's carry on the conversation.
Speaker 1:You know how I'm going to make money. I didn't care, you know, so I had to revisit that. You started charging them. If it can't pay, that's fine. Move to the next person, whoever is, whoever thinks I'm worth it, you know, and it actually made me different. I feel like it has made me feel different. I feel like now my dance is appreciated. So if I do a dance for you and it goes viral, I know I charged you for it, I know I was compensated. You know it has, I mean, god, god's blessing is involved, but it shows that I put in work and I was paid for it sometimes. But sometimes I saw a lot of messages. I saw a lot of statements made that the song is good, my song is good, that's why it's doing well. And it broke my heart.
Speaker 1:Imagine you don't sleep, stay all up. You stay up all night trying to create a dance challenge just to fit the lyrics and a song. You share it online and it goes viral. Everyone does it on social media and now the artist goes on an interview and says my song is actually a great song. So, yeah, no credit at least. I got super pained and my people were telling me bro, you see, we keep telling you and you say my bro, my sister, my friend, my family. So what's your strategy now? The strategy is to get paid. I do the job, we move on. If you want to keep me as your friend, that's fine. If you don't want to keep me as your friend, that's fine too. If you pay me my worth, because obviously I'm going to grow and I'm not going to dance like I used to. I've been very excuse me to say very ignorant about stupid. That's the main way?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, as a dancer, I can't really think of the ways that you monetize your craft. Yeah, what are some of the ways that people can monetize?
Speaker 1:yeah, so I work with brands, okay. I do performances, okay. I post on my YouTube. Youtube gives me money. There are lots of things that I do. I don't really remember them right now, but, yeah, because I have an academy. People pay to come to the class. I do dance classes around the world. I do festivals as well, yeah, and I host Shows. I'm going to host a show In Zambia, you know, yeah. What else, yeah, I think I've done. I've done so we are still building Absolutely. We are still building Absolutely. We are still building because, as time goes on, you're going to find new things, you're going to think about new things. That's incredible, yeah, but in the beginning.
Speaker 1:I was just dancing by an artist in music videos.
Speaker 2:So if I was to ask you and I'm not sure what your answer would be, because I really want people to understand that being a dancer, as a matter of fact, being a talented and hardworking dancer, pays, yeah. So what's the biggest gig you've got so far?
Speaker 1:Biggest biggest, biggest, biggest, biggest, biggest. I'm sure you're going to say you're going to think it's working with Beyonce. No, I think going to Dubai to work with the UAE government. It brought me a lot of money, yeah, changed my whole account. Seen Big S, yeah, yeah, so I think that's yeah, so what's and what's the least? You've been paid to do a job at least 50 series. You're joking.
Speaker 2:I'll give you this compensation right no, but I think you're done fantastic, yeah, but then you know, after working out your money issues, you know, making sure that you're now taking what you deserve, isn't that bringing a lot of pressure from family, friends, people that you had in your circle that are no more? They now see that you have a beautiful car, you're living a good life.
Speaker 1:This car has brought me a lot of like burden. It's brought burden on my head. I've got people from back in the day calling me, telling me about their family issues, you know, telling me to stop saying things for them. Family, obviously, family's family. I love my family, so so, yeah, I'll support them regardless. But ah, it's been crazy ever since I got this guy. Like everything is just different for me. Right now I hardly even pick calls. Well, yeah, even before I go here, I had numerous calls. You know, it's okay, I mean, I can handle it, I've always handled it, but it's just too much. If it was like 1%, that's like 10, you know, and I have to have to take. If I can afford, fine. If I can't afford, I'll let you know, because there's nothing to hide.
Speaker 2:What's your biggest?
Speaker 1:regret. There are no regrets in life for me. I feel like every situation should teach you one thing. Teach you a thing one way or the other. Ever since I left my ex-group, I still face situations, but I'm able to tackle it because I learned some things from the past as time goes on. I just know that I'll be facing challenges. When it happened, when I left the team, it was crazy. But now, when someone leaves my team or when I'm about to do any move and it does not succeed, I will know how to treat it. I will know how to maneuver my way, because this one was huge. Yeah, it was huge. It was different. Like it hit me when I let, when I least expected. That's when it hit me, like from people your favorite people not minding you and me. I didn't know how to move, how to even react, how to even behave. But now, if someone says I'm going, I don't want to work with you again, I'm like, okay, fine, that's the only thing I can say now. But and they'll be like why are you leaving?
Speaker 2:you think you've built that mental toughness?
Speaker 1:yeah, I feel like as a human being or as a creative, you need to be very tough. Yeah, there's no, even in and even in your heart, you don't? I used to be very emotional about everything, like If I tell someone to come and record me a video and a person has no show, I'll be very emotional about it. But now, if I tell you to come, I already have backup. So if you don't show, another person is coming, that's right. Or you might as well just come and meet Another person. So you have to prove it.
Speaker 1:I feel like it made me realize how life should, should be lived, and when I started traveling, I realized it's different out there, it's very different out there, and I was out there alone, right, for about five months, six months. It's crazy. No one cared about you. Do your own thing and let it work. If it doesn't work, you try. So actually, that moment, I feel like those moments were very precious, like they are very like Special moments. I don't think I'm going to be in that situation again. I don't think I'm going to ever see that Again. Going to be in that situation again. I don't think I'm going to ever see that again. You know, I I still have pictures, videos from that moment where, like, I'll just be in my hotel room and I'm like how do I do this? Who do I? Even at least I? I had a manager when I was in the x group. This is what I was alone.
Speaker 2:You know, do you think you are heavily misunderstood? Yeah.
Speaker 1:Because I'm changing a new face, I'm bringing a new thing. No one has seen that before. So they'll question every time and they'll try to fight it.
Speaker 2:If you were to tell that young man or young woman who's doubting themselves to walk the path that they truly desire, what would you tell them?
Speaker 1:Believe in God. Number one Two follow your heart. Follow your heart. Three Dare to be different. Believe in God. Number one Two follow your heart and dare to be different. Never give up. That's the last one.
Speaker 2:Today there's a young man that's got a talent. He's a great dancer, great musician. Whatever it is that they're doing with their talent In 2025, If you would advise them to do anything, where would they start from? Where should they start from right now?
Speaker 1:Start now. Nothing is too late. How.
Speaker 1:Start now. Social media is the biggest tool that can save you. Start now. If it is not your talent, don't do it, but hard work can also make you better. So start now. Put in work. Never look back forward and focus on the focus, because it's tough out here. You don't want to know it's tough, it's crazy and it gets lonely at the top. Though. But if you stay kind, you're open-minded, you're humble, you're gonna have people supporting you to grow the your dream or your career, build your career. Yeah, that's how my life has been this whole year, about 17 years of my career.
Speaker 2:I think you've probably answered this question, but I would ask you anyway what's the one thing that you learned too late, that you wish you knew earlier?
Speaker 1:money, know how to use your money, know how to use your money and Know how to use your money. And there's nothing like family in business. Family is when you're on the normal grounds, but when it comes to business, talk your talk.
Speaker 2:I actually like this version of you. No, no, no I. I like it because I say that when talent meets business, that's when money making become exponential. Yeah, you may be so talented, so hard working, but if you don't turn that, switch on you, you took me years, bro, so I've let money go.
Speaker 1:I've let money go. I wish that's the downfall of a man, I wish.
Speaker 2:But you see, the issue is you needed to do the free work. Yeah, I did it for a long time To get attraction, for a very long time?
Speaker 1:How many years?
Speaker 2:did you do the free work for Bro?
Speaker 1:Free work ended in 2023.
Speaker 2:That's just a couple of years ago. It's been a couple of years for me, so you could have started charging.
Speaker 1:Like in 2019. Yeah, I could have started charging like crazily and I knew people were ready to pay, but they use.
Speaker 2:You see, this is it. There's two sides to the coin. Sometimes, don't you think it's their courage to ask for your worth? That's what stops a lot of people from making money with their talent People are using me for their own benefits.
Speaker 1:Did you have the courage to even ask I'll even meet you in the first place why I am not the one meeting you? There's a manager, there's a representative. I see, do you get the point I get. So whatever business they have with you, whatever negotiation they have with you, it's for their own benefits. Maybe they want you to do something for them.
Speaker 2:And then you just do the dance Me.
Speaker 1:I don't know, I don't know about it. So they come and tell me something else and you know, I only know that it's a job it has. Come, do it and go. Whatever they pay, you is yeah, you are talented, you have been helped. Can you talk? You can talk. But now that I know that this way I don't have any relationship, I'm not doing any. I don't need any favour from this person. You come, you get your work done. That's it. Take my money service done. You're happy, both parties are happy. We move on in life. Sometimes I do something. In the past I used to do something and I'll see an artist and the person will frown and I don't know what I've done to the person. But the person has frowned. The person doesn't even want to talk to me again and I question, like not knowing something has happened in the past. Something has happened through management. Yes, that you were not aware.
Speaker 2:Yes, so this thing happened. It ended a lady in court because of management, the way management dealt with the case. Yeah, she was unaware. Yeah, the case ended up in court. And I would like to pause you guys here for a second. On the 29th of August, my team are putting together an event, our first Connected Minds live event. It's going to be happening at the British Council, so I'm going to leave all the details below register and then be a part of it. It's going to be an awesome day, complete mindset shift. So if you've been watching, listening to this program, following my teachings, you should be there. It's only going to be for maximum 200 people and every other detail is going to be on my Instagram, and that is Derekabaiti on Instagram. My question to you is is there anything I could have asked you that I didn't that we can still talk about in the past?
Speaker 2:no, anything that I could have asked you in this conversation that you still think we need to talk about I don't know.
Speaker 1:Maybe, if I've eaten, that's a good break. Have you eaten? Yes, yes, I have. Thank you, oh, I know.
Speaker 2:I usually don't do breakfast. You're not a hungry person. I do one meal a day, yeah.
Speaker 1:I don't really be eating well, so my team is really taking care of that for me. That's good and I'm grateful. Yeah, yeah, bro, you that for me. And I'm grateful. Yeah, yeah, bro. Yeah, boy, jamal, like we've really worked hard. Like no, you have no time to sleep. I go here with red eyes. Yeah, yeah, like sleepless nights, because it's like I feel like when I started this new team with rush, with a certain force, you know, and so in the beginning I didn't want to do this. I just want to concentrate on myself, because imagine all this energy, if I invested back into myself, I could be somewhere else. But I realized, no, to have the legacy continue, I need to build new like 10, 10, 20, 50 million of my type. But then again, I have to be very careful of who I'm investing my energy into. And now it's more like business for me, because me, when I was working in the other team, no, like because me when I was working in the other team, it felt like I was being a philanthropist, you know.
Speaker 2:The people you have under you In the beginning, like Right in your current, my question, in your current team, yeah, do you have contracts with them? Not yet, okay, not yet. Is that something you're thinking about? Yeah, okay, and are you going to pay them what they are due?
Speaker 1:Of course, if you're coming to a team, if you're going to look for a job, I feel like some people send their CV. Whatever these people, we look for them, okay, you know. So if I look for you on the street, obviously I have to change your life. You know, it's not even about me paying you, but I have to make sure. Yes, so the payback is you finding yourself becoming a brand and now you can take care of yourself. That's what I do for them. Okay, you know, but I'm a human being. I'm human until they get there.
Speaker 1:I need to be compensating them. You know a little bit. I don't say I don't call that payment, because if I'm paying you, I need to pay your worth, and all of them are worth millions like of dollars, it's not even cities because I see what the work they put in and I like their energy, I like how forceful they are when they're on stage and even off stage. You know, I've seen like a drastic change in them and I see it made me feel proud of how far we've come in these two years. Because, like, like I, like I said, like we started with like an energy and not everyone can match that energy. But trust me, these kids, I see the fire in their eyes, you know, and I wish it was like that when I started.
Speaker 1:You know, like I see it, like I don't know if it is for fame, I don't know how it's going to be like, but what I see is different. Like they want it all for themselves. They want, they want to be on stage, they want to be on stage, they want to be seen, they want to dance, they want to share their crafts. I feel like that name the dance, grow and live shows when you're on stage. You know, there were times that they were laughed at. I was laughed at what are these people doing? And now these people are the best in ghana now. So I feel like it's a gradual thing. We are fitting in, we are taking over. Like you said, taking over is allowed, it's allowed everywhere, even on a single carriage.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, somebody can take over quickly, quick, yeah, yeah, yeah, so it's. I say this you know, we've seen Nokia, we've seen Blackberry. Look at Apple now, look at Samsung. Now, samsung's stuck with the game. They are competing with Apple. Yeah, where's Nokia and Blackberry? The rest? So you know, today, you, you could be leading the game.
Speaker 1:You have to be very strategic, be strategic Every time Like I don't let. There's not any time that I be like, ah, I let go. I've been doing this thing almost 20 years. There's never a day that the only time that I've realized I messed up. That's when my blessing came, mm, mm, mm, that's when my blessing came. That's when my blessing came. So, like I say hard work, but believe in God. If God is not done, done with you like nobody can say we are done with you, like God is not done with you. You know me, I didn't want to dance again. I'm telling you, in 2022, I didn't want to dance again. Yes, I felt like, oh yeah, I didn't want to dance again. I'm telling you, in 2022, I didn't want to dance again. Yes, I felt like, oh yeah, I've done it. I was calculating my business.
Speaker 1:All these people are famous, their household names because of Dance. God, god, do too much. This is just the beginning. There are new faces, new people coming. You have not seen them yet. Just wait, my son. These are the new faces. I have Lali, I have Danny, I have Sugar, I have Olali. They are amazing Latifa Top top dancers right now, who have been loved from nowhere. If I tell you their background, some coming from the Voltaritan, some coming from Kumasa. But you know the beautiful thing.
Speaker 2:No, you created this. You did From the Genesis, yeah, yeah. So anytime you look back you did from the genesis. Yeah, yeah, so anytime you look back, you're like the inception of this. I took a bold decision yeah to wake myself back up, yeah, and give other people hope.
Speaker 1:It was never for me yeah, it was never about me. It will never be about me. It will never be about me. That it will never be about me. That's what people don't know. These people used to watch me from their homes, their villages, their towns. They wanted to get close to me. I left this team. Now they got close. Now they are doing amazing. Do you know who is watching them and wants to join? So it's like a train keeps going, doing amazing. Do you know who's watching them and wants to join? So it's like a train keeps going, and that's why we have a lot of dancers in Ghana right now.
Speaker 1:I was in Nigeria and then one lady walked out to me and she was like this feels like a dream come true. I used to watch you when I was in GHS. I used to watch you when I was in JHS. I used to watch you constantly on the phone. Now you are in my country and you have called me to come see you. I didn't know this day would come. Look at me. I was just thinking, oh, I know this girl. She's really good on social media. She never said anything to me and now she comes to me. I invite, invite her. She comes to me and she tells me all these things.
Speaker 2:That means I'm doing a great job, yeah but in all of this, if you put god as the foundation, what I've learned from this is the power of social media. Yeah, it's really pushed you.
Speaker 1:Yeah social media changed my life, especially Instagram. I suppose on Facebook back in a day, but Instagram, I was not getting paid from Instagram, but I had all my breakthrough where. From Instagram that moment, and I've got something crazy. Come and post the online. Away from Instagram, that moment, and I've done something crazy. Come and post it online. Everybody, yay, get new people gravitating to me from all walks of life. That's when I realized no, I have to take social media serious, even TikTok.
Speaker 2:What's your total audience size on social media? Hmm.
Speaker 1:That's crazy. Don't remember. Let me see Where's my phone.
Speaker 2:Instagram. Instagram, I think you have like.
Speaker 1:The last time I checked my phone.
Speaker 2:And I'm doing this because I want people to understand that- Okay, instagram is 2.3. Million.
Speaker 1:Million. Let me check my 3.4 on TikTok 3.4 million. Let me check my Facebook. That's crazy. Hey, where's my Facebook?
Speaker 2:I just want people to understand the power of social media. You know, 1.9 on Facebook, yeah, so we are well over 5 million, well over. And Twitter is like 100k, yeah, and I think your, my YouTube is like 300,000.
Speaker 3:That's, and then, of course, you've 100k, yeah, and I think you're um. My youtube is like 300, 300 000 yeah 300 000.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. I think you've done fantastic. Um, you've done a great. It's not my phone. I think you've done fantastic. I was gonna ask you my famous question motivation or discipline, but I think I already know the answer discipline, that's right. I already know the answer.
Speaker 1:Someone can motivate you. But discipline, hey, hardest thing to ever do. Yeah, if you have discipline, you have, you have everything. I feel like you never go down. You might as well you, you just leave the scene a little bit, but if you have discipline, if you always, you have to be disciplined.
Speaker 1:I used to stay with this lady called Jessica and anytime I wake up, she's like have you laid your bed? I didn't understand. I was like I want to go to town, I want to go and do something, but it started from my bedroom, the discipline that she wanted. Yeah, now I wake up and subconsciously I want to lay in my bed. And that's how it has been for the past four years. I had to leave my house to go and live somewhere To learn how to be disciplined. I felt so comfortable, comfortability, I thought I had worked Me, waking up, laying in my bed. Sometimes I will not even eat the whole day. I thought I was being a hard guy. No, I was killing myself, shooting myself in the foot. I'll leave my face unkept, my hair unkept. Yeah, that was the beginning of falling off. Go to the barber shop, give yourself a treat. That's it. Wear brand. Yes, I didn't care at that point. So laying my bed on all those things helped me.
Speaker 2:What's the best advice you've ever received?
Speaker 1:Best advice, best advice. Best advice and this question usually takes time. Don't tell people what you're about to do. Don't share too much. Don't share too much Until it's done. Don't share too much. I kept hearing it, but one time someone said it to me and hit me Don't share too much. Don't share too much.
Speaker 2:Oh, I get it. I get it.
Speaker 1:Don't share too much. Someone gets close to you. You want to share because you think that person loves you they use it against you yes, they are all for what is yours. They are in for it. They might come like God, they don't care about you, like that. You become who. Actually two, three advices that I've heard and, yeah, you become who you hang with that's good.
Speaker 2:I've enjoyed this conversation. I've never seen you speak from the core of your daily the way you have today. It's been a while it's it's it's it's been a conversation that you've spoken a lot. I spoke only about five percent and that's why it's connected minds. I usually like people to just talk and then share, and I think you've done fantastic. I am. I'm happy where I saw you and where you are.
Speaker 3:Yeah blessings, I think the first time I saw you was 2013 or 2014.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you've done fantastic. I remember that day like yesterday. Yeah, you've done fantastic and thank you so much for coming.
Speaker 1:God bless, God bless.
Speaker 2:You're going to make this program go to the next level again. And. I really appreciate it and to my people, if you made it all the way to the end, I would love to know in the comments and if this is your first time ever watching Connected Minds podcast. Hit that subscribe button and then turn on the notification. I appreciate you and stay connected. My name is Derek Abayde. I'm out.