I’m not entirely sure how to start this so I’ll pretend it’s the first page in my autobiography and tell you a bit about me in the hopes that you’re interested enough to stick around for the rest of the story (AMEN).
When I introduce myself as “EGBON CASS”, it causes people to take a second look at me and wonder why a young man clearly in his early twenties feels he has earned the right to be called “EGBON” which roughly translated from Yoruba means senior man or Big brother.
People often assume it’s an attempt at self aggrandizement, an Ego trip. Ironically I chose the name at my lowest point in life and not for any of the reasons people assume.
Before there was EGBON CASS there was just Cass, an aspiring artist with big dreams of making it out of Mararaba (a small town on the outskirts of Abuja) and making it unto the world’s stage with no actual clue of how to get there.
Before Cass there was Erik, the first son of a teacher and a journalist struggling to make ends meet for themselves and their children.
My father was a dreamer who tried time and time again to change his family’s fortune with Grand ideas that always seemed to lack the “follow through “ required to make it work despite his good intentions and best efforts.
My mother on the other hand was a true Hustler, who would do whatever it took, regardless of how difficult to provide her children with their needs and some of their lesser wants.
I grew up with one parent who taught me to dream like the world was my canvas and I could paint whatever I wanted on it, and another parent who taught me that if all I did was dream I would never be able to afford the paint brushes required to make the world my canvas.
Like any Nigerian child I was determined to make my parents proud by going to school and becoming a lawyer, but everything changed when the fire nation attacked and Cass was born.
Unlike Erik, Cass decided that making the parents proud had to be achievable without making myself suffer, and no disrespect to any lawyers but the few weeks I spent studying law were absolute torture. After a series of events that I’m sure I’ll share later I decided to focus on music which had always been an escape from reality and a means of expression for me and pursue my dreams of being an artist.
I secured my first deal in Abuja with the legion of boom and even though I didn’t have a plan on getting where I wanted, I was doing what I wanted and that was all that mattered.
Egbon Cass was born in 2018, after i lost my first deal, a bunch of friends and everything I had managed to acquire as an artist. In a bid to reinvent myself and bounce back from the losses I learnt to make beats and mix my own songs so that I could keep on making music even though I couldn’t afford to pay producers to make it for me, and halfway through learning production I got an opportunity to work as a producer for a label in Ghana.
I was glad to be working and creating again, but my first love was being an artist and as grateful as I was for the opportunities being a producer was giving me, I still felt inadequate and incomplete. Even after people told me I was amazing at making beats and mixing vocals I still felt inadequate and incomplete.
I took a stroll on Labadi beach one morning and I received a phone call from an old friend, he was very excited about the work I’d been doing in Accra and was eager to work with me when I got back home to Nigeria because to him I was doing better than I thought I was, when I tried to convince him that it wasn’t as much of a big deal as he was making it seem, he shared his perspective with me, told me of his troubles and his hopes and his dreams, and standing where he was I could see me through his eyes and understand why he felt like I was an EGBON to him.
I kept the name as a reminder to myself that even at my lowest point, on the days when I don’t see any value in myself, someone out there can see the value in me and is looking up to me, and this is true for all of us.
Welcome to my safe space where I hope I’m able to use my writing to provide you with a different perspective on everything from Music to money and even God.
I will like to thank 
If you’re still reading at this point, I truly appreciate you.
Till next time
Peace and love
