Media entrepreneur and host of the viral talkshow #WithChude, Chude Jideonwo sits down with musician, live performer and entertainer Segun Johnson, whom he describes as “a cultural artifact,” for a deeply human conversation about his childhood, family, music, money and the making of the man behind the performance. Segun Johnson takes Jideonwo back to a childhood marked by hardship, recounting how his father chased him and his mother out of their home, and how his mother raised him alone while refusing to let their circumstances stand in the way of his education.
Segun speaks honestly about his relationship with his father, who never got the chance to apologise to his family before his death, and the complicated emotions that came with finally meeting the man he had grown up resenting. He also talks about the woman who raised him and the lessons her resilience left with him. “Six other women were chased out of my father’s house before my mom, and he never got the chance to apologise to us, his family,” he says, offering a glimpse into the family history that shaped his understanding of life, responsibility and survival.
The conversation traces Segun Johnson’s unlikely musical journey, from juju, Fuji and gospel to becoming one of Nigeria’s recognisable live performers, and the hunger that first pushed him into music. “Hunger led me into music. When I needed to make money at a tender age, music was the solution for me,” he reveals. He speaks about his time at MUSON, self-development, the lessons he took from every artiste he worked with, and why he believes live band groups remain undervalued and underpaid. “I learnt from the mistake of every artiste that I had ever worked with,” he says, explaining how observation became part of his education.
Beyond the music, Johnson opens up about his evolving relationship with money, purpose and success, including the journey that eventually led him to owning over 24 flats in Lagos. He reflects on a period when eating and enjoying life mattered more to him than finding purpose or direction, and shares his unconventional philosophy on wealth: “If you don’t have 1 million dollars, you’re broke. Having 100 million naira doesn’t make you a millionaire.” In a conversation that moves from childhood hunger to self-development, family wounds, live music and financial ambition, Segun Johnson emerges not simply as an entertainer, but as a man shaped by experience, vulnerable, inspiring and deeply human.
WATCH EPISODE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxNc2vrrl24
