SMALL DOCTOR – HOW I SLEPT IN BUSES AND DREAMED OF BIG STAGE

Before the fame, before the lights, before the chants of “Penalty!” echoed across Nigeria, there was just a boy Temitope Adekunle, known today as Small Doctor with nothing but a dream too heavy for his pockets.

He wasn’t born into comfort. His story started on the rough streets of Agege, Lagos a place where dreams either die young or fight to survive.

For him, music wasn’t just a passion; it was his escape.

There were nights he had no home to return to. He slept inside Danfo buses, clutching his bag and praying no one would steal it before morning. The buses became his shelter, the streets his classroom, and the rhythm of Lagos traffic his lullaby.

He’d wake up, clean his face with sachet water, and set out again moving from one corner show to another, performing for free, just to be heard.

No stage was too small.

No crowd too harsh.

He faced rejection, insults, and days when he wondered if chasing music was madness. But he kept going.

He said once, “I believed in my sound even when nobody else did.”

And that sound raw, real, unapologetic became the heartbeat of the streets.

From Agege to Mushin, his voice became the anthem of hustlers, okada riders, and market women who saw their own struggle in his lyrics.

When fame finally found him, it didn’t erase the pain it crowned it.

Because behind every hit song is a boy who once slept in buses and dreamed of a stage big enough to hold his story.

Today, as we celebrate Small Doctor’s birthday, we celebrate more than a man we celebrate survival.

A story that proves that no dream is too small when by your hunger is real.

Happy Birthday, Small Doctor.

From the buses to the big stage you didn’t just rise, you inspired a generation that still believes hustle pays.