In an interview with Adesope Olajide for the Afrobeats podcast, Nigerian singer Oxlade revealed that he had to sleep under the Ojuelegba bridge in Lagos after he ran away from his parents' home in order to pursue his dream of becoming a musician.

His father, a university lecturer, had disapproved of his decision to become a musician and so he had to leave home to follow his passion.

During this time, he worked selling BRT bus tickets to make money.

Oxlade said …

“Back then, I used to sleep at Ojuelegba barrack bridge sometimes. I did several menial jobs to survive. I was selling BRT ticket

“If you don’t take your time to create some songs or create anything, it’s gonna sound rushed. If you rushed in, you rushed out.

“I am not looking for hits, I am looking for classics. I mean, ‘Away’ is four or three years old, but it’s still banging. ‘Ku Lo Sa’ is a year old, it still bangs. ‘O2’ from nowhere, it just blew up last year. These songs are old, but they still have value right now.

“I don’t want to mention names but I know of a lot of artists that dropped songs last year that blew up but they are gone now. I’m not trying to impress, I’m trying to leave a long lasting image in your head.”