• Nyash says in his 10 years away, he learned the value of having people around you
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Rapper Nyashinki quit music to become a truck driver when he moved abroad in 2006.
Together with his family, the rapper, real name Nyamari Ongegu, got a chance to relocate to Delaware, USA, despite being aware he was cutting short his career.
Speaking on his YouTube channel first episode, Nyashinski said life did not favour him while there.
"When we moved abroad, I had completely quit music. I was working back in the States as a truck driver," he said.
"I used to drive a lorry, trying to survive."
The 'Malaika' hitmaker says the first two years he was in Delaware, then he moved to Michigan.
"That experience taught me a lot. Two things that were life-changing for me back then was one, when I was here, I was a star," he said.
"People recognised me everywhere and we were doing what we loved. I moved from a place where I was known and getting a bit of favours here and there to a place where no one knows me."
"No special treatment and you must work because you have to eat."
Another major lesson he learned in the 10 years he was away was having people around you and conversations are very important.
"That was coupled with the fact I was used to having people around me to a lonely life of driving a truck," he said.
"There you are alone for over 16 hours. You only stop to fuel, sleep, shower and use the bathroom. So you find yourself enjoying small conversations with people you meet for five minutes. At least it was a way from that cage."
He said the lines on the road even become hypnotising after a long distance and he looked at them, thinking about his life.
"I accepted that this is my life," he said.
He says despite the hustles, he enjoyed living a normal life, where no one knew him. He could walk in a mall, on the roads and be normal.
The reason he came back to Kenya is after realising he was living a life that he felt he was not using his intelligence or exerting his passion and purpose.
"So back in the States, my friend told me to just go in studio and exert that pressure as a lyricist," he said.
"I did not have to release the songs. But I found myself listening to a beat, creating a song and then wanting to perfect it and then I want people to listen. That is how I found myself back into the music world and came back home."
Nyashinki has since been releasing hit after hit and recently, he released 'Lucky You' album, which he is still promoting.
Edited by T Jalio