How my sickle cell diagnosis intersects with my music
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Ugonna Anyadike performs music in 2021. (Photo by Jeremiah Collins)
In recognition of Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Month in September, the Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Month campaign features a series of stories highlighting the real-life experiences of people affected by sickle cell disease, written in their own words. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or X for more stories like this, using the hashtag #SickleCellDiseaseAwarenessMonth, or read the full series.
Music has always been a part of my life, just as sickle cell disease (SCD) has. It was always there, even when I didn’t realize it. I have been writing since I was a child and experimenting in the studio since the early 2010s. I would go on to form a rap collective and begin releasing music with my group Mild Sobriety, and individually under the moniker Android No. 23.
Since I was a child, I would have bouts of pain here and there, but I didn’t understand why. My parents made sure I knew to tell gym teachers and coaches that I had SCD, but I never connected the dots.
It wasn’t until high school that I did a deep dive on Wikipedia about SCD and finally understood why I had pain, especially when playing sports. This is an important part of my story because 11th grade was the last time I played organized sports. I had to take all that energy and put it somewhere else. That’s where music came in.
After the dissolution of Mild Sobriety, I focused more on my solo music as Android No. 23. I released my first project worldwide in 2018, titled “Adverse.” This was an important moment not only because it was my first official release, but also because it was the first time I addressed my SCD in my music, in a song called “In The Shadows.” It was a moment of raw vulnerability for someone who largely kept his SCD diagnosis under wraps.
I announced the June 23 release date on May 18, 2018. Everything was going as planned, but on June 9, I had a terrible pain crisis that led to hospitalization. I had never been down more than a few days before this episode, but this one was different. I spent three weeks at Johns Hopkins with acute chest syndrome, which overlapped with the release date I had announced.
But the show must go on. On June 18, I asked my brother to bring me my laptop and equipment so I could finish the job. A friend visiting at the time took a picture of me working on the music and posted it to social media, and it went viral. Three days before the release, my phone blew up with notifications and messages.
When I wrote “In The Shadows,” I never could have imagined that my struggles with SCD would end up introducing me to the whole world. And somehow, that diagnosis became inseparable from my artistic practice. People were motivated and inspired by that part of my story, and I learned firsthand how vulnerability can be my greatest strength.
Life today is very different, and my practice has evolved in many ways, but it’s comforting to know that despite everything SCD might’ve taken from me, it somehow found a way to give me something back.
