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Before the chart success, recording sessions and sold out performances, Ghanaian dancehall artiste J.Derobie was serving meals, balancing cash drawers and learning recipes, all while quietly chasing his music dream.
Speaking on Chef It Up on 3Music TV, the Poverty hitmaker revealed that life before fame saw him wearing several hats at a restaurant in Dansoman Mall, where he worked as a waiter, cashier and eventually a chef.
“I was a waiter,” he recalled.
What started with taking food orders soon turned into preparing them. Watching the restaurant’s chef at work sparked his curiosity, and before long, he was picking up culinary skills that earned him a place in the kitchen.
“The food was not hard to make. Seeing how he was doing it, he taught me some of the things,” he said.
When the restaurant relocated, J.Derobie moved on but later returned to work at its Osu branch. This time, he became the definition of a one man team, juggling the roles of chef, waiter and cashier.
“I became the chef and the waiter and then the cashier,” he said.
His schedule did not stop at the restaurant. He was also studying System Engineering at IPMC, although he admitted he could not complete the programme.
Finding time for music proved even harder. According to J.Derobie, recording Poverty, the song that would eventually change his life, took nearly six months because he could only make it to the studio during his free time.
The singer also shared a memorable moment from his restaurant days, recalling that he once served rapper Sarkodie and his family. Despite the opportunity, he chose not to mention his own musical ambitions to the award winning artiste.
After leaving the restaurant business, J.Derobie volunteered at the Births and Deaths Registry before deciding to pursue music full time as his career gathered momentum.
Thankfully, that leap of faith came with support from home. He said his parents backed his decision to focus entirely on music, a choice that has since paid off.
