Popular Nigerian singer, Joeboy, has said working briefly at a sachet water factory during a strike while in the university was one of the things that boosted his determination to become a successful musician.

He said because of the struggle he went through searching for a job during his undergraduate days, he was scared he might not find a lucrative job when he graduates.

Speaking in the latest episode of the Afrobeats Intelligence Podcast, Joeboy said, “I studied Human Resources and Personal Management. When I was in the university, there was a strike for like three months. So I decided to get a job and I was searching for a job for like three months in the whole of Lagos. I did not get one single job.

“There was even a time I worked in a pure water factory as a marketer. At that point I was like, ‘I’m looking so hard for a job and I can’t find any. Is this how I’m going to end up when I finish school?’ So that was also a trigger. I told myself, ‘You really have to make sure you make it [in the music industry].”

He described his life as a “miracle,” stressing that some people advised his former record label boss, Mr Eazi, not to sign him but he miraculously got signed to Empawa and his music career skyrocketed.

The singer said not even his parents expected that he would become a musician.

Joeboy, who recently existed Empawa and launched his own record label, Young Legend, said he had “the best label deal in Afrobeats history in Nigeria”.