Ice Prince releases memoir: I want to correct false dreams & inspire

Multi-award winning Nigerian hip-hop star Panshak "Ice Prince" Zamani wants the youth of Mzansi to learn lessons from his life and has released a book to help inspire them.

After four years of working on the book, the BET Award winner launched The Nigerian Dream on Tuesday night in Sandton.

Speaking to TshisaLIVE, the muso said he was inspired to write the book because he wanted to show the rising generation that they could achieve their dreams.

"It came from my love for reading. I love to read and tell stories, whether it is in acting, music or a book form. It also came from me wanting to share my idea of the dream life and how it can be obtained."

He said part of this was correcting the belief that people were only a success if they made millions and then retired into politics.

"There is a kind of fake dream that exists in the part of the world that I come from. It is that you must be the best at what you do, and when you are old and retired, you join politics. I don't think it is a good narrative. Not everybody has to return to a life of politics. That is part of the reason why I wanted to tell a different dream using my story." 

The book touches on Ice Prince's life, regrets and triumphs. It also follows themes of family, community and fortune.

He said the most difficult part of writing the book was opening up on certain aspects of his life that he had never revealed or spoken about in the past.

"One of the most difficult things to reflect on was the death of my father. He passed away in 1999. Everything went downhill from there. When my dad was around, my life was okay. We were doing fine but when he died, a lot of things went down for me and my family, to the point that I wasn't able to afford university education and had to drop out."

He said he hoped the book would inspire a generation to not only read more but use his life as an example of making the most of your opportunities in difficult circumstances.

"I want people to understand that a rose can grow out of concrete.  I want people to know that if this guy can make it, no one has any excuses not to. I also want people to read more. There is a cliché that if you want to hide something from a black man, put it in a book. We need to change that narrative."