This past weekend, Grammy-nominated rapper CHIKA announced via social media that she had made the decision to step back from her music career to preserve her mental health.
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“Today, i shared that I was thinking of retiring because the mental toll being in the industry has taken on me is not something you bounce back from easily,” she tweeted, on Saturday. “I’ve told my team, i’ve told my therapist, i’ve told friends and acquaintances. today i told twitter. what followed was a hoard of psychotic fans rejoicing in the decline of my mental health, harassing me as if I spoke to them first.”
“When you have depression, the negative self talk you have towards yourself is deafening,” she added. “Now imagine a slew of weirdos dogpiling on top of thoughts you already have to fight off yourself. it’s not f*cking cool, it’s not ‘trolling’ or ‘stan culture,’ you’re pushing people to a point of no return. and no, i don’t feel bad for wishing death on people who sh*t like that cuz you deserve the same fate as the people you effect. with that said, I’m out. if it doesn’t work, i’ll try again. idc. have fun. i never liked it here anyway.”
“Chika, ma’am. You chose to be in this industry and you have to realize how these people are. You have to grow THICK skin,” responded one fan – who she reposted. “You are a grown woman letting 15 yo twitter trolls get you all upset. If you can’t take this industry and this little spotlight then just become a writer.”
“Stop f***ing telling me what the f**k got me upset,” she responded. “I was clearly upset BEFORE they started f**king with me. WHY else would i say i’m retiring. y’all are so f**kin dense that you think a stan can turn someone suicidal, no n***a, i BEEN here. they just make it worse.”
Despite her personal battles, when it comes to her career the Nigerian-American, openly bisexual emcee is widely considered to be a rising star after releasing her first EP, Industry Games. She managed to nab the GLAAD award for Outstanding Breakthrough Music Artist which celebrates musicians “whose songs, music videos, or live performances have made a significant impact on LGBTQ visibility and acceptance.”
CHIKA also made it into XXL’s Freshman Class of 2020.
“This is a real moment in my career. I need to be able to do the best that I can with it,” she revealed to XXL at the time. “[My goal] is to take over the world and [exceed] every expectation of me, including the ones I have for myself.”
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“I want to continue to progress and do more, and produce other content and help other artists,” she added. “I want to just become a fully-faceted artist and individual, so that I’m able to provide a good baseline for other people who do this to do something.”
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