Long before Tye Tribbett became a Grammy Award-winning gospel singer and pastor, he was picked on about the size of his teeth and the color of his skin.

Tribbett turned another year older on Saturday and decided to reflect about his past struggles on his birthday. In a transparent Instagram post, the pastor of Live Church in Orlando, Florida recalled a time where kids picked on him in school.

He posted a childhood picture of himself, revealing that he was always made fun of.

“This is Tye! Always laughed at, always teased and bullied… picked on as the #punchline of all the ‘cool kids’ jokes,” he shared. “The ball players clowned me… the cheerleaders ‘ill’ed’ me like ‘eeeelllllllll why is he sittin w/us’ (to my FACE btw) I could never close my mouth (that was another infamous joke….”

All of the negative comments caused a young Tye to question his appearance.

“I’d sit n wonder ‘why are my teeth sooo big n why am iiiiiiiiii this black’ #darkie #blacky #bucktoothbeaver#bugbunny #uglyduckling #uglybunny #blackattack …..you name it…they said it. Suffered with incredibly low self esteem which of course led to approval addiction and people pleasing,” he admitted. “Girls didn’t like me n guys loved to clown me… not to mention I was a Church boy… Wearing suits and ties almost every day up until my junior year was HILARIOUSLY RIDICULOUS to them.”

The budding musician learned to find solace in making music.

“..I would sit in front of my CLOSEST black n white friends.. THE KEYS‼️.. they still would never celebrate or compliment me at first…. but at least … for a little while when I played, the noise was silenced…,” he said. “The jokes were still, and it seemed like at that moment …I was AT LEAST #understood.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtG4pmVlL_0/?hl=en

Looking back at those hurtful comments, Tribbett realized just how insignificant they were.

“This is not a sob story or pity party by far… This is a story of the ‘DONT MATTERS!’Fast forward to today n I realize that what they said #DONTMATTER what they thought #DONTMATTER…what they feel about me #DONTMATTER… and it took this long to realize…. IT NEVER DID,” he wrote. “GOD’S HAND is on my life n it’s ALWAYS BEEN. HIS favor His grace HIS approval HIS love…is the only thing that #MATTERS n that has EVER mattered!”

 

(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for BET)