Tiwa Savage reveals her emotional journey of struggling to bond with her son Jamil and how motherhood affected her career in new interview.
Question: What did Tiwa Savage reveal about bonding with her son Jamil?
Answer: In a recent interview on the Flow with Korty podcast, Tiwa Savage confessed that she struggled to bond with her son, Jamil, for the first one to two years of his life because she had always wanted a girl.
Nigerian Afrobeats superstar Tiwa Savage has opened up about one of the most vulnerable moments of her life. In January 2026, during an interview with content creator Korty EO, Tiwa Savage shared how she faced real challenges bonding with her son after his birth in 2015. The singer revealed that her desire for a daughter, combined with postpartum struggles, made those early years emotionally difficult.
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The Disappointment That Started Everything
When Tiwa Savage learned she was expecting a boy, her reaction was not one of joy. “Honestly, I didn’t bond with my son for the first year or two,” she stated during the FlowWithKorty podcast episode. “I always wanted a girl. They told me it was a boy, and I started crying.” Her disappointment was raw and honest, something many women might feel but rarely admit publicly.
The impact of this preference extended beyond mere emotion. During those early months, Jamil was what Tiwa described as a “crying baby,” which intensified the stress on a mother already struggling with her new reality. She wasn’t instantly connected to her newborn the way society often portrays motherhood. Instead, Tiwa Savage experienced what many new mothers go through in silence.
When Career Takes a Hit From Motherhood
Tiwa Savage’s struggles with her son didn’t happen in a vacuum. The postpartum period brought physical changes that had real professional consequences. The singer revealed that her body did not “snap back” as quickly as she hoped, leaving her feeling far from her pre-pregnancy self.
What made this harder was the rejection she faced from major brands. Tiwa Savage lost a lucrative campaign deal with Pepsi during this time because the company reportedly turned her away due to changes in her appearance. At the time, this felt devastating. “I was supposed to do a campaign with Pepsi at the time and they turned me away. And I just thought this boy has destroyed me,” she shared openly.
For an artist like Tiwa Savage, whose career depends on her image and presence, this moment felt like the end of everything. The pressure on female musicians to maintain a certain look while managing motherhood is immense, and Tiwa Savage became another example of how unfairly this burden falls on women in entertainment.
From Struggle to Friendship
Today, Tiwa Savage tells a different story about her relationship with Jamil, now 10 years old. She describes him as her “best friend.” The transformation from those difficult early years to their current bond shows that painful beginnings can heal and grow into something beautiful. What started as emotional distance transformed into genuine love and connection over time.
Tiwa Savage credits this shift to intentional effort and the natural deepening of their relationship as Jamil grew older and could communicate his own personality and needs. The woman who once felt her son had “destroyed” her career now sees him as one of her greatest sources of joy and pride.
Teaching Her Son to Respect Women
Today’s Tiwa Savage focuses on raising Jamil with strong values, particularly when it comes to how he treats women. Drawing from her own experiences and past relationships, she is deliberate about the lessons she teaches him. “I always tell him, your mum suffered oo, make sure you treat any girl like a queen. It is very important for me to raise him as a good man,” Tiwa Savage explained in the interview.
This commitment goes beyond simple instruction. Tiwa Savage wants her son to understand that respect and kindness toward women aren’t optional. She acknowledges that “he is going to make mistakes, he is not perfect,” but she emphasizes that “at the core of him, I want him to be kind.” By sharing her own struggles with Jamil, she gives him context for why these lessons matter.
Tiwa Savage Opens Up About Her Relationship Life
Beyond motherhood, Tiwa Savage revealed candid insights into her romantic history during the FlowWithKorty conversation. At 45 years old, the singer has faced significant challenges in finding lasting love, describing most of her past relationships as disappointing and emotionally draining.
Tiwa Savage admits she has experienced only one truly fulfilling relationship, with a man who sadly passed away. This loss continues to influence her view on love and partnership. Since then, her romantic journey has been marked by imbalance, where she often gave more than she received emotionally and financially. She describes herself as having been a “people pleaser,” willing to reduce herself and compromise her own needs for partners who ultimately caused her pain.
Her most publicly known relationship was her tumultuous marriage to Tunji “Tee Billz” Balogun, with whom she shares her son Jamil. The couple divorced in 2018 amid allegations of infidelity and emotional abuse. The divorce brought significant public scrutiny and backlash, adding layers of emotional difficulty to an already painful personal experience. Despite the heartbreak, Tiwa Savage learned important lessons about boundaries and self-protection.
Tiwa Savage’s trusting nature, while a strength in many contexts, has made her vulnerable in romantic relationships. She has struggled with setting boundaries, a challenge she openly acknowledges. “I was a people pleaser,” she reflected, recognizing how this tendency kept her in unhealthy situations longer than she should have stayed.
Today, Tiwa Savage is clear about what she seeks in a partner. She’s looking for someone financially stable, young, and without complicated family dynamics. In a moment of candid humor, she joked that she might even consider being a second wife if it meant finding someone who meets her standards. Her criteria reveal someone who has learned from past experiences and is intentional about protecting her peace and her son’s wellbeing.
Since her divorce, Tiwa Savage has prioritized her music career and motherhood, channeling her energy into personal growth rather than searching desperately for validation through romantic relationships. This shift in focus has allowed her to build a stronger sense of self and establish herself as a woman defined by her achievements and character, not her relationship status.
Why It Matters in Ghana
Tiwa Savage’s story resonates across West Africa, particularly in Ghana and Nigeria where her music and presence are deeply felt. Her honesty about motherhood, career pressure, and the reality of balancing both challenges the narratives that often surround female celebrities in the region. Many Ghanaian and Nigerian women face similar pressures to maintain their appearance while managing the demands of motherhood and career, often in silence.
By speaking openly on platforms like the FlowWithKorty podcast, Tiwa Savage creates space for other women to share their own stories. Her willingness to admit that bonding with her son didn’t happen instantly normalizes an experience many mothers go through but rarely discuss. In a cultural context where motherhood is often idealized, her vulnerability becomes a powerful act of authenticity.
Beyond motherhood, Tiwa Savage’s candid discussions about failed relationships and the emotional toll of public scrutiny offer validation to women across the region who have experienced similar heartbreak and judgment. Her resilience in continuing her career and focusing on personal growth while navigating these challenges provides a model for other women who feel they must choose between ambition and acceptance.
Key Takeaways
- Tiwa Savage struggled to bond with her son Jamil for the first one to two years after his birth because she had wanted a girl
- Postpartum challenges, body image issues, and losing a major Pepsi endorsement deal affected her emotionally and professionally during this period
- Tiwa Savage now describes her son as her best friend after years of intentional effort to build their relationship
- She is focused on raising Jamil to be a respectful, kind man who values women based on lessons from her own life experiences
- Tiwa Savage has experienced significant challenges in her romantic relationships, with only one truly fulfilling partnership that ended in loss
- Her marriage to Tee Billz ended in divorce in 2018 amid allegations of infidelity and emotional abuse, bringing public backlash and personal pain
- Tiwa Savage is learning to set boundaries and prioritize her own wellbeing after years of being a people pleaser in relationships
- Since her divorce, she has focused on motherhood, career growth, and personal development rather than seeking validation through romantic relationships
