Rapper and singer Zlatan Ibile has revealed that his unexpected journey into music began after he failed to secure admission into the university.
Speaking in a recent interview with Nandi Madida on Africa Now Radio on Apple Music, the 30-year-old artist said his setback in academics eventually led him to discover his passion for music.
“I was supposed to go to university in 2011/12, but I did not have my complete papers. I failed mathematics and accounting, so I could not go to school that year,” Zlatan recalled.
He explained that the one-year break before reapplying for admission gave him unexpected free time, during which he began exploring music.
A former church drummer and choir member, Zlatan said his first experience in a recording studio happened by chance after a friend, who had never made music before, played him a song.
“But like you said, I used to be a church boy,” he continued.
“So when I failed my examination and I couldn’t go to school, I started going to the studio. One of my friends just came back home from housing one day, and he played this song. And I knew him very well. I knew him from church. I knew that he has never made music before.
“We went to the studio, and then for the first time, I went on the microphone. It was so funny. And then I came back home. To me, the song was rubbish. It was not making sense. It was my first time.”
Zlatan said that despite his doubts, his siblings’ reaction to the track gave him a much-needed confidence boost.
“When I went back home and I played it for all my siblings, and they started making me feel like Jay-Z that day,” he said, laughing.
By the time he finally gained admission a year later, Zlatan said he was still finding his footing as a rapper.
“And then, I just started following my friend to the studio from there because I had to sit out one year before going back to school. And I didn’t have up to three songs,” he said.
During his first semester in school, he joined a campus talent competition — not expecting much since his songs were still raw and unpolished.
“I was loving the way people were carrying me, who is an artist now. So I went back to school one year after, and then my first semester in school, the rap competition came up,” he said.
“And then, I did not believe that anybody can actually win a car off music, off the kind of music I make. I did not even have up to five tracks.
“The songs were not mixed and mastered. They were just pre-recorded songs. That was the moment I started enjoying the rap. I started enjoying the rap then.
“So, the competition just came up when I was trying to get into this rap game. And then, to cut the story short, out of 140 candidates, I won the car.
“I won the car when I was 19 years old. Yeah, I was so amazed. This was my first semester in school. I have not even attended the first examination in the school. This was just three weeks into the school.”
Zlatan’s early experience, which began as an academic disappointment, ultimately became the turning point that launched his music career and set him on the path to fame.
