Guvna B discusses his journey with pornography addiction and recovery in new album

British rapper Guvna B, whose real name is Isaac Borquaye, opens up about his personal struggles in a candid interview following the release details of his tenth studio album, This Bed I Made. After a traumatic racist attack in 2021 that left him temporarily blind in one eye and inspired his 2023 album The Village Is on Fire, which addressed structural racism, youth violence, and gentrification, the musician had hoped for a lighter follow-up. However, life events led him in a different direction. In 2023, he separated from the mother of his two young children and confronted a long-standing addiction to pornography, which he describes as a lifelong battle. This prompted him to enter rehabilitation that year. The new album, featuring jazz-influenced sounds and incorporating clips from addiction expert Gabor Maté, delves into themes of shame, secrecy, psychological imprisonment, the risk of relapse, and the relief of honesty. Tracks such as To Be Free, What Now, and Shameless explore these issues openly. Borquaye highlights how cultural and faith-based expectations of perfection, combined with denial, prolonged his secrecy, as he initially viewed it as less severe than substance addictions. Though the World Health Organization classifies problematic pornography use as an impulse control disorder rather than a formal addiction, he notes its detrimental effects on relationships, fatherhood, and daily functioning. Recovery involved therapy to address childhood emotional processing deficits, limiting social media, and building healthier habits. He emphasises breaking stigma by speaking out, encouraging others to seek help without shame. As a father sharing custody, he aims to model vulnerability for his children eventually. Borquaye also continues workshops in schools and prisons to help young men express emotions constructively, moving away from bravado towards empathy and emotional tools.