Despite growing up a prince in his tribe, Sona experienced the pain of poverty around him, and overcoming these experiences instilled him with the confidence that inspires his music.

For part of his youth, he was raised by his grandmother in Douala, the second-largest city in Cameroon, along with 10 other children she attempted to feed on less than one dollar per day.

“We saw people dying every day from malnutrition, HIV, guns,” says Sona’s brother and closest friend, Sona Emmanuel, who is a year older and also lives in Milwaukee.

At times, the physical pain of malnutrition was so devastating in Sona’s youth that he tried to end his life.

“There’ve been a couple instances that I’ve tried to commit suicide, man, just because I was hungry,” he says.

It is because of the tragic conditions Sona endured that he believes he can inspire others to overcome what they may believe is insurmountable.

“I want to make every part of the world better, take a message that could touch people’s heart,” he says. “Just because I was born in the gutter … doesn’t mean I have to be stuck there.”

Emmanuel believes their childhood hardships will resonate with downtrodden people anywhere, be it Cameroon or Milwaukee.

“I think he’ll be a great voice for this generation,” he says.

Musical beginnings and a burden to help others

According to Emmanuel, their family’s royalty began affecting them as they grew older, not in how they were treated but rather in how they viewed the world.

“It impacted our lives in the way we think, not in the stuff we got,” he says. “We saw ourselves as different than most people. … We have the mentality as royalty, so we started thinking like kings. We’re supposed to lead.”

With poverty and disease surrounding him, especially the HIV pandemic, Sona’s compassion burdened him to set an example by trying to become a doctor.

“I remember growing up, I used to walk down the street and see lepers … and just stand there and look at them and pull out all the money I had in my pocket and just put it in their plate,” Sona says.

His decision to become a doctor ironically enabled him to discover his musical talent and move away from medicine and into performance. Sona and Emmanuel excelled as students and were the beneficiaries of a 40,000-franc scholarship (or the equivalent of $80 in the United States) from the government at ages 11 and 12, respectively. With their scholarship money, they helped support their grandmother, but they also acquired a second-hand Sega Genesis, an influential moment in Sona’s career. On the last stage of the video game “Street of Rage,” a catchy instrumental popped up, and both brothers recall looking at each other as if they knew what would happen next. Sona began to freestyle rap to the instrumental for 16 bars without any prior practice or training.

This initiated a fascination and love for music that gained both brothers recognition through performances, competitions and rap battles throughout Cameroon – especially because they could rap fluently in both French and English. Despite gaining nationwide success and fame, the music never became larger than who they were and their core beliefs.

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