How Soul Jah Love’s battle with diabetes made him unpopular

Showbiz Reporter

Between 2015 and 2016, Soul Jah Love’s music career started getting compromised as he continuously failed to pitch up at shows with most saying it was because he was abusing drugs. This saw him get unpopular with his thousands of fans and music promoters who were simply convinced that he was taking them for a ride.

But in February, 2016, he availed himself for a rare interview with Star FM personality, KVG where he took his time to clear the air.

Explaining his constant absence at shows, he said it was due to diabetes, an ailment which he was diagnosed with when he was seven-years-old.

While some had since concluded that the artiste simply failed to perform as a result of drug and alcohol abuse, Soul Jah Love said that was not the case as his blood sugar levels would be too low for him to perform.

“When I fail to pitch up to a show, it’s usually because my blood sugar levels will be very low. I can’t even give that as a reason because people just say I was high on drugs, which isn’t the case,” said Soul Jah Love during the interview.

He blamed the drug abuse rumours on his face which he said resembled that of a druggie.

“My face looks as if I’m a drug addict. My prayer is that God vindicates me and people who I’ve wronged to forgive me.”

The artiste, whose marriage to fellow dancehall artiste – Bounty Lisa – was always on an off, was quick to say only his close family and friends understood him and the struggles that he had been through.

“People who are close to me know how I live with diabetes especially my manager – Wallace, who’s also my friend. He’s seen me through it all, supporting me when I was low,” said Soul Jah Love.

There was a time when the artiste was on a spree of firing managers, something people felt was due to his drug abuse. But, Soul Jah Love said because of his ‘condition’ which some managers failed to appreciate, he had to fire most of them as they would fail to give him his medication on time.

“My blood sugar levels once went low when I was at an airport in Kenya. My manager failed to get an injection for my insulin on time and I really had difficulties stabilising my sugar levels.

“When I fire managers, people think I’m wrong, but it’ll be because they’d have failed to secure such critical stuff on time as I’ll sometimes be on the brink of death.”

Soul Jah Love said Dai Hupenyu Hwaitengwa, an album he released in 2016, was inspired by his battle with diabetes. He said it was a project meant to make listeners appreciate life, especially good health.

“Dai Hupenyu Hwaitengwa is a very emotional album as I’ll be singing in a way that people can feel my pain through my voice. I’m one artiste who prefers to sing about real issues unlike singing about flashy cars like Porsche or a double storey house that I don’t have.”

He said he was usually sick, but preferred to be strong as he was passionate about his career.

“Even when I’m doing radio interviews like this one, I’ll be sick but I have to be strong because I’m doing it for my career,” said Soul Jah Love.

The artiste’s shows nationally were synonymous with controversy as Soul Jah Love did not pitch up for some shows he was booked for, with many people questioning who was to blame for his behaviour.

In one instance, he took to the stage, chanted: “Chibababa . . . conquering” and left, angering many fans. That’s how he got unpopular.

2016 generally was not a good year for him as he was involved in a car accident in Gweru while on his way to Victoria Falls for a show leading to another cancellation. As if that was not enough, his battle with diabetes heightened that year as he developed a foot ulcer. But knowing fully well how people had lost faith in him because of his constant no-shows, the Hove Huru hit-maker shocked many when he performed on a wheelchair with his left leg bandaged. He performed his entire set seated in the wheelchair and received sympathy from fans who sang along with him.

He was in top form and at some point appeared to want to jump off the wheelchair and join his dancers. That was Soul Jah Love, he always went the extra mile to please his fans.