Ghanaian rapper, Eno Barony has shared that she was initially drawn to music for its sheer enjoyment until she soon found herself driven by a powerful need to prove her worth and overcome the limitations imposed by others.
Speaking to Berla Mundi on the Day show, the ‘God is A Woman’ said she realized that she was being held back by the preconceived notions others had about her and had to embrace her uniqueness and rise above societal expectations.
“In the beginning, I was just like the fun of it and later, I wanted to prove a point to myself. I always felt like there are some things that I cannot do because people were like ‘Oh She’s an Ashaiman girl’, ‘Kumasi Girl’ or ‘She’s too fat’. It was bringing me down at a point So I had to prove to myself that I can do this,” she recounted.
Born in Tema, Accra, Eno whose real name is Ruth Eno Adjoa Amankwah Nyame Adom disclosed that throughout her life, she has been accustomed to being labelled and categorized.
“I’ve always been odd. Back in school, they referred to me as ‘That Ashaiman Girl’, I went to tertiary in Kumasi and it was always ‘That Tema Girl’. I come and started doing rap, people are like oh ‘She’s a Kumasi Girl’,” she pointed out.
One of the most hurtful labels directed at Eno Barony, she revealed was that of being “fat.” As an individual, these comments inevitably affected her self-esteem. Nevertheless, she refused to let them define her or dictate her path.
“It got me especially when they called me ‘fat’ You are human so it can get to you at some point and I was like nah, I am bigger than my problem,” she continued.
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Recognizing her inherent worth, she made a conscious decision to rise above the negativity.
In doing so, she not only empowered herself but also inspired countless others who struggled with similar body image issues
“I dropped all the negativity and people who were more plus size than I am will come to me and say ‘Oh you’re my icon’. I did not know I had an audience then. I have videos people sending to me crying and saying you make me feel that I’m beautiful,” she narrated.
In 2021, The 31-year-old won the award for Best Rap Performance at the VGMA’s beating the likes of Medikal, Strongman, Joey B, and Amerado.