We speak to multi-talented singer-songwriter and producer to Camidoh. A legendary figure who is changing the narrative around mental health in music.
From Afropop, highlife to soul and neo R&B, Camidoh has been at the height of producing something special in his music.
The Ghanaian artist dives into his experiences with love, which is all about the ups and downs of how love prevails. It’s a great way to describe the artist. Someone who has passion and wants the world to know it.
Camidoh has been using his striking vocals, transporting lyrics and majestic stage performances to show how he’s on another level.
In this interview we dive into everything to do with mental health so a small trigger warning there.
Josh: Firstly, how have you been doing mentally recently?
Camidoh: I’m good, I’m still in the process of gaining things the way I want them to be. So, I’m good now. Yeah.
Josh: Your publicist mentioned you wanted to do more mental health focused interviews, what’s the reason behind this?
Camidoh: Most of the time we hear people talk about it, but then we don’t really because you haven’t experienced it, you can’t really tell the depth of it. When people talk about mental health issues, we just listen from a mile away, and we don’t really know exactly what they’re talking about. But for me, I feel like I’ve dealt with it personally. And I realised that ‘whoa, this shit is deeper than I used to think it was’ so I literally had to pour it out on a song because that’s what I know how to do best.
Josh: How have you found social media affecting your mental health?
Camidoh: I think of social media in two ways. It can really build you up and it can also mess you up. So for me, I just think that depending on what state you are in, what mental state you are in, you have to be careful what you feed into. Because for example, if I’m going through a very bad day, and I really am feeling stressed or maybe depressed in a certain way, I probably will not want to go on social media because you will probably go and see things that will now make you feel worse. And on the other hand, you can also see things that will make you feel better.
So it’s two ways and you can’t really tell when you’re gonna see a good thing or when you’re gonna see a bad thing. So I just think that people should just jump on social media in their right state of mind. You can’t risk it to go and jump on social media at a point where you are really going through a bad day because it’s like it will probably just make your situation worse now cause you to go and do something else.
Josh: Does it affect the creative process of making music?
Camidoh: Yeah, it can affect it negatively. Because if you go through a bad day, and then you jump on social media, and you see so many funny memes. And you burst into laughter so much that you totally forget that ‘yo, I’m actually dealing with this situation’. Sometimes, for example, I’m in a studio and I have writer’s block. I’m not able to come up with anything, I just go on social media, just like jump on these funny pages and watch funny memes and all of that, by the time I get back to the session, I feel like I get inspired, stuff just comes to my head.
Josh: You’re from Ghana right? What’s the culture like surrounding mental health?
Camidoh: I think a lot of the time, on mainstream media, they advise people to speak about it. They encourage people to speak about their situations. But, you know, the youth is in a different league on its own. They are more on social media, and sometimes you come out to say your stuff, and they will troll you. And sometimes you may even delete your social media, you know, a couple of artists have deleted their social media because of trolls, you know, you, you just come and talk about your issue.
The mainstream media normally preach and encourage people to speak about it. However, I don’t want to cover the fact that the youth can be really reckless and heartless, you know. I’m saying if they encourage you to speak about it, they can still throw you. You can still be a victim of social media trolling and all of that.
Josh: How have you personally found being given awards for your music and people across the world listening to your music?
Camidoh: It takes very solid, and grounded artists to not be affected by awards. You believe, and you think that your music is really dope and then they decide not to nominate you and not even talk about even awarding you. It can get you depressed. Certain artists really, really, really believe in awards, certain artists really take it like a whole a big thing. It’s a big deal for them. So, it’s like when they put up projects, and then they are not nominated, or even awarded, it can really weigh them down. I’ve seen a couple artists in Ghana, who came out to express how much they have not been awarded, have really weighed them down and got them depressed, and all of that.
I know that, PR wise, it is a good thing. I don’t really like worrying about myself, I just try to focus on making the music as dope as I can do. I will say, 100% that it can affect creatives negatively, you know, not being awarded is a big deal to be honest. It has become like a part of the game where it has become like a marking scheme where you receive an award for your song and then that kind of validates you. Yeah, that’s what it has become now in society. So yes, I’m afraid to say it does affect a lot of people’s mental health.
Josh: When it comes to life’s ups and downs, is that difficult to write about or natural to you?
Camidoh: Yeah I’m not going to lie, it was difficult at one point, because you have to be careful with what you say, because it could be translated the opposite way. So, as a public figure, you are very sceptical as to what to net out and what not to let out. So I think it was a little bit difficult. But with time, I’ve figured it out.
Josh: What are specific things that you do to stop the negative thoughts?
Camidoh: Spending time with my girlfriend, spending time with family, people that are outside the music are important. I would rather spend time with people that have the tendency of making me happy, or getting me really emotionally in a good place. I would rather do that. I just like taking it a step at a time.
I’m trying not to be hard on myself, to be honest. I don’t want to be putting too much pressure on myself. I’m the type of artist who will put pressure on myself, but I’m learning not to, you know. Shoutouts to my team as they will call me and help me understand. Sometimes it’s easy to hear that a step at a time, right? In theory, it’s so easy to hear these things. It’s so easy for anyone to say, ‘oh, small, small steps at a time’. But in reality, bro, it doesn’t really connect like that. In reality, when it hits you, it hits you. And you will probably not be able to like talking to yourself. So, obviously, I personally would like to spend time with people outside the music who are really, and make me happy, you know, one, my girlfriend or my mom or my sisters or something like that, just spend time with family. And it’s like, make feel a different thing for a couple of days, and then get back to it.
Josh: Finally, what’s next for Camidoh?
Camidoh: I want to put on other projects, and I want to be able to go on an international media tour. I want to be able to touch base with media houses all across the globe, like in America, the UK, because I feel like that’s the next level. That’s where I need to touch base now. Also do performances. I love performances. So I want to do, you know, live TV performances on international platforms and all of that.
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