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The road to stardom can change more than an artiste’s career. For some, it can also reshape friendships that were built long before the fame, hit songs and industry recognition arrived.
Former Mentor contestant and media personality Kyei Nwom has opened up about his relationship with Ghanaian singer Kuami Eugene, revealing how he felt their once-close bond gradually faded after the Rockstar hitmaker rose to prominence.
Kyei Nwom Recalls Their Days Before Fame
Speaking in an interview, Kyei Nwom reflected on the friendship he shared with Kuami Eugene before the singer secured a record deal with Lynx Entertainment.
According to Kyei, their relationship went beyond casual industry acquaintance. He recalled visiting Kuami Eugene’s family home, building relationships with his mother and sister, and even performing at the singer’s local church.
When Kuami Eugene secured his deal with Lynx Entertainment and began making strides in the music industry, Kyei and other former Mentor contestants were excited about his breakthrough.
The group reportedly created a WhatsApp platform to support the emerging star, hoping that his success would eventually create opportunities for the rest of them.
“He had just been signed at Lynx Entertainment, and we all had a WhatsApp group. He was the only one who had been signed and had a song out, and we were all supporting because in our heads, if he blows, then we would also blow,” Kyei recalled.
He added that their happiness for Kuami Eugene was genuine because they understood the struggles they were all experiencing at the time.
“It Wasn’t Even About a Feature”
However, Kyei said the relationship gradually changed as Kuami Eugene’s career gained momentum.
He claimed that communication between them reduced significantly, leaving him disappointed that the friendship they once enjoyed no longer seemed to have the same closeness.
Kyei acknowledged that the demands of a growing music career, or even possible instructions from management, could have influenced the situation. However, he stressed that his concern was not about securing a collaboration or benefiting professionally from Kuami Eugene’s success.
Instead, he wanted the simple gestures that had characterised their earlier relationship, such as checking in and asking how he was doing.
“Maybe the label told him to disassociate himself from us, but I felt sometimes it’s not even about a feature. It’s about checking up on someone and saying, ‘How are you?’ and ‘What’s up?’ because we were so cool,” he said.
His comments suggest that the perceived distance hurt because of the friendship they had developed before the singer became a household name.
The Price of Success and Changing Friendships
Kyei Nwom’s account touches on a familiar conversation within Ghana’s entertainment industry: whether rising fame inevitably changes an artiste’s relationships with people from their early days.
As musicians move into new professional circles, their schedules, management arrangements and responsibilities can change considerably. For people who knew them before their breakthrough, those changes can sometimes feel like a loss of the closeness they once shared.
However, Kyei’s comments represent his personal account of the relationship. Without Kuami Eugene’s response, it remains unclear what led to the reported decline in communication.
For Kyei, the issue appears to go beyond music or career opportunities. It is about maintaining a personal connection with someone with whom he once shared important moments before the spotlight arrived.
