Long before he became known as the founder and host of Konnected Minds, Derrick Abaitey was chasing a different dream, music.

Recounting his journey on The Career Trail programme, on Joy Learning TV and Joy News, Abaitey revealed that his passion for music began as a child in Ghana after being inspired by his senior in school.

“When I was about 11 years old in Ghana, there was this guy in our school called Vibrations. Anytime there was entertainment, the guy had swag. The way he used to rap, I admired him,” he recalled.

Determined to learn, Abaitey approached the senior student and asked him to mentor him in rap.

“I went to him and said, ‘Senior, I would want you to mentor me on this. Just show me how to rap. I love music, but I don't know how to do it,’” he recounted.

Vibrations accepted the challenge and introduced him to the fundamentals of songwriting, including the concept of writing 16 bars.

“He took a pen and paper and wrote 16 bars. He was the first person who introduced me to 16 bars. He showed me step by step how it works, that the lines have to rhyme and how to structure it,” Abaitey explained.

"I would write, show it to him and rap it to him. Sometimes he would say, ‘Charlie, it's not good. Next, next, next, next,'” he continued.

His passion soon moved beyond the classroom as he began seeking opportunities to develop his craft. Derrick recalled visiting funeral DJs in Ghana to get instrumental tracks, which he used to practise his rap skills.

“I would ask them if they had instrumentals. They would give me songs, and I would take them, listen and rap over them,” he said.

By his early teenage years, he had formed his first rap group with two friends and performed at events, including shows in Swedru.

“I had two other friends. We used to perform at events. I remember we did one in Swedru,” he shared.

Although he was passionate about music, Derrick said he did not receive much recognition in Ghana at the time.

“Nobody really cared about me. I was just in school,” he admitted.

However, after moving to the United Kingdom at age 15, he continued pursuing music and formed a group called Vibe Squad.

“I recorded myself using my computer. I played it to my father, and he said it was nice,” he disclosed.

His father later supported his dream by paying for a studio session where he recorded his first album.

During the recording process, Abaitey realised that calling himself Vibe Squad while being the only member did not make sense, so he invited his senior brother to join him.

“I told my brother, ‘Come and join the squad.’ So it became the two of us,” he highlighted.

As he progressed through college in the UK, Derrick expanded his network, built a home studio and began recording other aspiring musicians.

“I used to put computers together, and they would come to my house to record,” he said.

The music journey soon gained momentum. Before entering university, Derrick and his group had a hit song in the UK titled W’adi Me Sika and performed across cities, including Birmingham, Manchester, Coventry and London.

“At the time, UK Afrobeats was big. Fuse ODG had not even come into the picture yet. Wizkid came in before Fuse came in. We were doing a whole lot of things,” he noted.

For Abaitey, music was not just a hobby; it was a career path he believed could change his life.

“I thought music was going to be my financial breakthrough,” he reflected.

However, his journey eventually took a different direction, leading him from music into entrepreneurship and later the creation of Konnected Minds.