Rap icon Okyeame Kwame, born Kwame Nsiah-Apau, has revealed that while music may be his first love, education is his true calling, and he fully expects to spend the last chapter of his life in a classroom.

In a heartfelt interview with George Quaye on Joy Prime’s Prime Time Show on Wednesday, June 25, the award-winning musician didn’t just speak about his career, but opened up about a deeper passion: teaching.

“If I weren’t a musician, I’d be a teacher, completely,” he said with conviction. “Even as a musician, I’m still going to be a teacher…because by the end of my life, I will be teaching in one of the universities.”

Okyeame Kwame spoke with deep affection about his early teaching days at Meduma in the Kwabre-East District of the Ashanti Region, where he taught after completing his A-levels.

That experience, he said, left a lasting impression.

“I loved interacting with children. I loved imparting knowledge. I even loved the process of preparing to teach,” he said. “That’s how I know I’ll end up in a lecture hall, teaching psychology, sociology, philosophy—or even the philosophy of African music.”

His passion for education is also deeply personal and emotional. Okyeame Kwame shared that his late father once opposed his rap career.

“From age 14 to 16, we fought all the time about it,” he recalled. “But one day, he saw me perform. After that, he made me promise: no matter how far I go with rap, I must go back to school.”

His father passed away two years later, and that promise became a guiding voice in his life. “I go to school for him. And I go to school for myself.”

What makes his story even more remarkable is the academic challenge he had to overcome. “Growing up, I had dyslexia,” he revealed.

“It wasn’t diagnosed in Ghana, so I was constantly beaten at home and at school. They said I was stupid. But I wasn’t. I just had a different brain.”

Okyeame Kwame described himself as neurodivergent and has become an advocate for a better understanding of children with learning difficulties.

“Some children have dyslexia. Some have dyscalculia. We beat them because we don’t understand that their brains just work differently.”

Despite these early struggles, the musician turned educator has earned two master’s degrees and is currently working on his PhD.

“I just do it for myself—to prove I wasn’t stupid. I do it to fulfil the promise I made to my father. And I do it because I know I’m meant to teach.”