Mike Akox Sucks: “Life Is Like A Book Of Three Pages”
Ghanaian-Australian Afrobeat artist Mike Akox is a showman, through and through (and he describes himself as such). At the forefront of the Afrobeat movement in Australia, Mike moves at a mile a minute, but he still uses music to remind listeners to enjoy the small moments in life.
Late last year, Mike released his new single, ‘You Nice’, celebrating the special connection that you have with the person who is your soulmate. It contains elements of Afrobeat, jazz and Adowa, the traditional music of Ghana’s Ashanti tribe (of which Mike is a member). To mark the song’s release, Junkee caught up with Mike to talk about moving back to Ghana after living in Australia, his love of Fanta, and attempting to save someone that didn’t want to be saved.
Junkee: A mistake that turned into an opportunity?
Change is a very big thing, moving from your comfort zone to a different zone. For example, me moving back to Ghana from Australia, moving back home, I spent half my life there, and half my life here. Changing and coming back was pretty difficult, and sometimes I thought, ‘that was a mistake’, but it was to shape me to become a greater version, to become more good, it’s what the universe has sent me to do. I think that change, and that mistake that I think I made coming back home was a blessing.
Cringe quote you used to live by?
I wish I had one. But I do have a quote that I live by that I wanted to share with the world. Life is like a book of three pages. Now the first page is life. The third page is death. The middle page is empty. It’s up to you how beautiful you make it to live.
The worst failure you’re up for sharing, and what you learned from it?
Thinking I could save someone that wasn’t ready to be saved. I was dating a stripper, and I thought I could save them because they wanted to get out of it. Ended up finding out they weren’t ready to get out. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with people who strip, I’m saying this person wanted to get out of it and I thought I could save them.
Anything you used to be wrong about?
If only you know what you’re good at, you need no validation. Nobody knows what’s in your head.
Embarrassing internet habit?
This is old and what I used to be, but I want to put it out there so that I can advise the youth and the men coming up. I was addicted to watching pornography on the internet growing up. And thank God I’m out of it. That won’t help. That’s something I want to put out there for the youth, for the men, to retain that strength and that power to become your greatest version.
Ideal morning routine versus actual morning routine?
My ideal morning routine is basically what I’m doing now. I wake up, I pray, go to the bathroom, I pee, but I sit on the toilet to pee, and then I stay there. Sometimes I will be there for 40 minutes, quiet, trying to receive downloads. Then I train, and then I meditate, and I start my day.
Bad health decision?
I used to drink Fanta a lot and that was so bad. Overnight, I could smash like 10 Fantas. Just recently, I stopped. But I like Nick Kyrgios so much, and he introduced his new soft drink, Alive. I got a friend to buy me some from Australia, a few boxes that I was smashing every day. I probably have to stop that as well, but it keeps me Alive.
Mike Akox’s new single You Nice is out now.
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Illustration credit: Matt Lauricella, @pigeonboyart