Ghanaian musician and winner of the 2023 TV3 Mentor, Byno Ayoni, has shared some of the distressing ordeal he experienced growing up in the city of Aflao.
He recounted the emotional journey of being abandoned by his father at birth due to his albinism and losing his mother three months later.
“I didn’t know my father growing up. According to what my grandmom told me, when I was born, the man came to the hospital, saw me, and said, ‘We don’t have this thing in my family.’ So he ran away. My mom, out of pain and disappointment, died when I was just three months old.”
Byno Ayoni
Growing up under his grandmother’s care, he faced serious health issues and societal discrimination.
“So my grandmom took responsibility. At the time, I was a sickly child. I got so sick, according to my grandmom and the people who saw me grow up, that you could see the food traveling down my stomach when I was eating. That’s how sick I was.”
Byno Ayoni
Byno also mentioned that, despite his hardships, his headmaster introduced him to the brass band, sparking a lifelong love for music.
“I attended Holy Star Academy in Aflao. That’s my primary basic school in Aflao. I didn’t struggle much with acceptance there because I was shielded by the headmaster, and anyone who did something wrong to me would be punished severely.
“It was because of him that I fell in love with music very early. He made me join the band, the brass band. I was five years old at the time. And then the music started from there.”
Byno Ayoni
As he grew, Byno realized that his uniqueness was not a curse but a gift that set him apart.
“With time, I understood that it just has to do with being in a society where you are the outstanding person, looking different from everyone else,” he said.
His musical talent shone through, leading him to victory on TV3’s Mentor and capturing the hearts of fans across Ghana.
How Byno Was Harassed By Former Record Label
Byno Ayoni revealed a troubling history of bullying and harassment by his former record label, an African multimedia company, during his time in the TV3 Mentor competition.
He shared that the bullying began when he started participating in the show, despite parting ways with the label a year prior.
“When I performed, someone would come and write derogatory things about me in the comment section. When I saw it, because I’d been working with them for a time, I knew how they constructed their sentences and then I noticed it was one of them who was doing it.
“I reached out to Frika (a friend at the label) and I was like, ‘Bro, look at what they are doing’. He said he spoke with the guy, and the guy denied it. But immediately I spoke to Frika, those comments stopped After that, they started bullying me via WhatsApp.”
Byno Ayoni
The stress from these interactions nearly drove him to exit the competition, but encouragement from his mentor, rapper Edem, kept him in the race.
He chose to focus on his performance, ignoring the social media attacks and refraining from responding to the provocations.
“Even while the social media bullying was going on, I would never post anything to respond to them or whatever. They kept going until a point where they felt that, ‘Okay, now he’s gone too far in the competition; there’s nothing we can do anymore.”
Byno Ayoni
However, the label’s resentment flared up again when Ayoni failed to acknowledge them in a post-competition interview, despite their negative behavior towards him.
“Right when I was done with the competition, my first interview, I gave shoutouts to people who supported me in the program and left them [former record label] out. They were upset about why I didn’t acknowledge them for playing a part in my growth. When you were constantly attacking me on social media, you expect me to give you a shoutout.”
Byno Ayoni
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