For Adekunle Gold, music was not something he deliberately set out to pursue. It was something that found him early, through the church, and gradually became part of who he was.
Speaking on the One54 Podcast, the singer reflected on his earliest relationship with music and how those experiences shaped the artist he would eventually become.
“I found my love for music in the church,” Gold said.
His memories go back to watching young people lead the choir and wondering what it would feel like to be in their position.
“I wanted to be that guy so bad,” he recalled, speaking about his desire to lead the church choir.
But that opportunity did not come.
For years, he watched two other boys take the lead while he remained on the sidelines. It was an experience that could easily have discouraged a young person who was beginning to dream about music.
“It never happened for me,” he said.
But perhaps the rejection was also an early lesson in what it would take to pursue a career in music.
Gold would later face another rejection, this time during his audition for Project Fame. He recalled performing in front of Nigerian music producer and songwriter Cobhams Asuquo.
“I wanted Cobhams to like me,” he said.
The response, however, was not what he had hoped for.
Cobhams told him that he liked his voice but that it was not what he was looking for at the time.
Rather than focusing only on the disappointment, Gold held on to one part of the feedback.
“For a cool man to say he loved my voice, then, okay, maybe I actually have something,” he recalled.
That mindset — finding something to hold on to even in rejection — became part of his journey.
“You can either crumble or go, you know what, it’s time to go to work,” Gold said, reflecting on how people respond when opportunities do not go their way.
And for him, going to work meant continuing to develop his craft.
The Name ‘Gold’
Even his stage name has a story rooted in his church experience.
Gold recalled attending a youth conference in 2008 when a preacher repeatedly used the phrase, “You can’t substitute brass for gold.”
Something about the statement stayed with him.
“I just got a nudge like, yeah, that’s your name. That’s it,” he recalled.
That moment gave birth to the name that would eventually become synonymous with his music career.
‘Melodies Are So Powerful’
During the podcast conversation, Gold also spoke about the deeper connection between music and human emotion.
He described melodies as something capable of taking people back to particular moments in their lives — sometimes without them even realising why a particular song affects them so strongly.
“Melodies are so powerful,” he said.
A song, he explained, can remind someone of a person, a place or a particular period in their life. It can cross language and cultural barriers and still communicate something deeply personal.
Reflecting on the spiritual dimension of music, Gold referenced the legendary Nigerian musician Fela Kuti and his belief that music is spiritual.
“Fela even said, music is spiritual, don’t play with it,” Gold said.
For an artiste whose own musical journey began in church, that idea appears to resonate deeply.
“I’m just blessed to make songs that do that to people as well,” he added.
Beyond the music, Adekunle Gold’s journey also reflects the realities of life in the public eye. From discovering his passion for music in the church to navigating rejection, building a successful career and dealing with false reports about his family, his story continues to evolve. Even as he and Simi welcomed their second child in 2026, Gold remains a figure whose personal and professional life attracts intense public interest.
Yet, beneath the fame and the noise that often comes with it, his story still traces back to something much simpler — a young boy who found his love for music in the church and chose to keep pursuing it.
