Afrobeats star Augustine Kelechi, popularly known as Tekno, has revealed how a serious health condition forced him to step away from music at the height of his career.

Speaking in a recent interview on Cool FM Lagos, the singer disclosed that severe damage to his vocal cords caused by acid reflux left him unable to sing and kept him away from music for years.

Tekno said he chose to keep his condition private, a decision that led many people, including those close to him, to believe he had become lazy and lost interest in making music.

According to him, the experience took a heavy emotional toll, and even after recovering, he struggled to reconnect with music.

“Even the people closest to me were saying that, ‘He is just lazy. He doesn’t want to perform.’ I was in a very dark place. Even after I recovered, I hated music. I didn’t want to hear music for a long time. I was only forcing myself to do music because I had a deal with Universal,” he said.

The singer explained that he continued releasing songs during the period largely because of his recording contract with Universal Music, despite having lost the desire to make music.

Tekno said he eventually regained his passion for music through reading inspirational books, which helped him recover emotionally and rediscover his love for the craft.

The singer rose to international prominence in the mid-2010s with a string of hit songs and high-profile collaborations