Life presents itself with a series of diverse events—nobody knows what their life might end up like or what life might throw in one’s way. But the one fact that is known and accepted by everyone is; life is definitely hard.
Often, life brings such events that shatter a person to their core. Life seems hard when everything somebody worked hard for comes crashing down. Having to fight off the hopeless and despair that comes along with these tough situations is the hardest part, and all anyone wants to do is to run and scream away from every situation. Due to this obvious case, people themselves chained to feelings of fear, and think that there is nothing more to life than failure.
But here’s the thing most people forget. Life may be difficult, but it’s worth it and even when a person is left with picking up all the broken pieces one by one, the words, ‘giving’ and ‘up’ should be removed completely from one’s mind. Failure is inevitable, but that is not the end. Because while not everything, life breaks can be fixed, most everything can be survived.
The world has thousands of examples of people who were so headstrong that regardless of how much they struggled, they did not give up. Mike Adeyemo, professionally known as Truth, is the prime example of believing in oneself and not giving up. He is the founder of Truth Records and WTL Investors Inc, a music artist and a successful entrepreneur. Mike was not born in a well-off or successful family. He started from the ground and worked his way to the top.
Born on August 25, 1983, Mike opened his eyes in Lagos, Nigeria, . Consistently fond of music from the very start, Mike adored performing in front of his parents and four siblings. His father gifted him with a toy piano, which became Mike’s most prized possession. Through the piano, he learnt the essential skills needed for music and his love for the industry only grew. Mike also joined Angelican Church Imesi Ekiti’s choir, which was located in his father’s hometown. When the boy turned 15 years old, he, along with his family, relocated to Maryland in the United States.
Soon, he joined Duval High School, from where he graduated as a high schooler. He further got his education from the Bowie State University, Prince Georges Community College, UMUC, and the University of Phoenix.
In 2004, Mike began hustling to step in the music industry. He set up a music label and laid the foundation of Jill Entertainment. He signed Slim-mo as the label’s first music artist. They worked together on the record label’s first-ever release, and titled the album they worked on as, “The Struggle.” The album hit the markets in 2005, and Mike had his fingers crossed with the hope for the album to be successful. However, things turned out the exact opposite, resulting in Mike coming face to face with his first failure.
Deciding to give up on the idea of a record label, Mike decided to set up a marketing and promotions agency under the name “Jil inc,” which was launched as a sub-division of Jill Entertainment. With this platform, Mike began working with many artists, including Young Buck from G-UNIT, Jamaican artist Lady-Saw, and some underground artists. This time, Mike was very hopeful about achieving success, but things went downhill, and the agency went into loss in 2008 due to the recession in the country. This was the second consecutive failure in Mike’s life.
Brokenhearted and shattered to the core, Mike took some time to think about his ventures. He decided to pursue a different path, and in 2010, he founded the WTL Investors Inc. The company proved to be immensely successful, and Mike even launched several other divisions under it, including WTL Wireless Solutions, WTL Tags & Title, and WTL Pack & Ship. Through his business, he acquired funds that helped him step back in the music industry.
In 2016, Mike founded Truth Records in Nigeria, and four underground artists were signed under the label. Alas! He failed the third time as well. But, he did not give up. Instead of hiring other artists, he decided to sign himself up to his label. He took up the stage name, “Truth,” and started working under his label.
Three years after the label was formed, Mike ‘Truth’ Adeyemo, released his first single, “Hallelujah” on June 1, 2019. The single was a hit, and it helped both Mike, as well as his music label, establish a firm ground in the music industry. Just a few months later, Truth released his sophomore single, “Bigger Man.” In October 2019.
Mike did not let failure get the best of him. Instead, he learnt lessons from each failure. He also stepped into the security services’ sector and founded, “Synchronic,” in 2018. Mike aims to spread the message to everyone across the globe that failure is not the end of the world; it is just a fresh start to a new journey!