Gospel artist Victor Thompson, known for his hit track “This Year,” has shared a candid account of his past, revealing how he once sold weed and alcohol to sex workers to survive after losing both parents at the age of 12.
In an interview with Chude Jideonwo, Thompson detailed his challenging journey, which included working various jobs to make ends meet. During the day, he sold sachet water on the streets, while at night, he ran a small shop near a brothel, selling booze, marijuana, and cigarettes to sex workers.
“At a time, I was selling alcohol, weed, cigarettes, and hawking pure water. In the morning and afternoon, I did vulcanizing, shoemaking, and hawked pure water, but at night, I would go back to my shop, which was close to a brothel, to sell alcohol, weed, and cigarettes. Most of my customers were the prostitutes,” he recounted.
Thompson also shared the heartbreaking story of losing his parents at a young age and the struggles that followed. “I lost my parents when I was between 12 and 14. My dad passed first; I think I was 10 or thereabout. When my dad died, my aunties threw us out of our dad’s house. We didn’t have a place to sleep. God so good, a carpenter was kind enough to give us an empty land to sleep on. It was a bush, so at night, I would sneak my mum in. That was how we lived for years. But she couldn’t cope, and then she passed away.”
Thompson’s story is one of resilience and transformation, demonstrating how he overcame significant hardships to become a successful gospel artist.
