Popular Gospel artist Victor Thompson, known for his hit song ‘This Year,’ recently opened up about his challenging childhood in an emotional interview with Chude Jideonwo.

Thompson shared that after tragically losing both of his parents at the tender age of 12, he had to resort to selling weed and alcohol to make ends meet.

By day, he hawked sachet water, and by night, he sold alcohol, weed, and cigarettes to sex workers, showcasing the harsh realities he faced before rising to fame.

“At a time, I was selling alcohol, weed, cigarettes, and hawking pure water. In the morning and afternoon time, I did vulcanizing, shoe-making and hawked pure water but at night 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 recalled.

“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 so kind and gave us an empty land to sleep. It’s a bush so at night, I would sneak my mum in, so that was how we lived for years. But she couldn’t cope then she passed.”