A
popular myth has it that the destiny of a child is determined at birth
and will one day come to pass, no matter how long it takes. If this is a
truism, then Chocolate City artiste, Brymo, was destined for limelight.
Out of the blue, his break-out single, Ara,
tore the charts within a week of its release, earning the 26-year-old
singer some 10 nominations and awards. These include Headies’ Recording
of the Year Award and 2012 Channel O’s Most Gifted Afro Pop Video of the
Year.
According to the singer whose real name is Ashimi Olawale, his album titled TheSonofaKapenta,released
this week, chronicles the journey of his life. As the only son of a
carpenter father and petty trader mother, the artiste had a humble
upbringing.
‘’I
was born and raised in Okokomaiko and have been there since the late
80s. I grew up in a mixture of backgrounds. I cannot tell you that I
came from the ghetto. I had friends who lived opposite my house who I
did not see more than thrice a year because they were in boarding
schools and friends who I always saw brandishing the latest phones. I
was living opposite them in a face-me-I-face-you. House,’’ he says.
Notwithstanding
his upbringing and exposure while growing up, Brymo is considerably at
home with the English Language. The boyish-looking singer says although
his parents were not learned, they placed a premium on his education.
He
adds, “Everything was available for me. From their meager resources I
was sent to school. I went to Lagos State University for my tertiary
education but I had to run away after two years. I was studying Zoology
because I was unable to handle the rigours of the course. If I had
decided that I wanted to be a mechanic or a carpenter like my father, I
could have been that. If I decided that I just wanted to go to school, I
could have done that. For a few years, my father taught me how to use
the saw, how to mend chairs, but sincerely speaking I didn’t learn
anything. My mind was elsewhere – in music.’’
In
2002, he alongside three other friends formed a group called Aliens.
But the group was disbanded in 2005. Brymo went solo and released his
debut album Brymstone in 2007. But his fortunes changed overnight after a
surprise phone call.
“I
had this Nokia phone I was using then and I remember I actually just
finished charging the phone and an hour after, the phone call just came
in. This was in 2010. I was like ‘Wow, thank God my phone was charged.
It was Denrele, who I had met earlier, that called me one day to tell me
that MI had seen me perform somewhere and was interested in meeting me
and the rest was history as I got signed on to Chocolate City almost
immediately.”
Brymo also discloses how the track, Ara,
came about. “The chorus of Ara is actually an old folk song which I
just reconstructed into the techno beat that I had and it sounded good
and I was like okay, it works. Some weeks later, after a very nice meal
in the afternoon, I think it was Oha soup or Banga soup, the idea behind
the title came to me. I was under pressure at that time and I needed to
submit a single to Chocolate City and everybody had already agreed that
my first single, which is Good Morning, should come first because it was recorded six months before Ara was written, but I guess God had other plans.”
Staying
true to his Yoruba roots and love for Fuji music, Brymo’s Afrocentric
sound is unmistakable and reflected in all his songs. He says, “Music
has no boundaries. I believe that people would rather listen to a sweet
Yoruba song even if they don’t understand what the person is saying than
listen to a horrible English song that they understand what the person
is saying.”
As
he looks forward to a positive reception from his sophomore album, the
singer pledges to always reflect in his father’s advice, “that I should
be careful with what I do because anything I do today would not go away.
The day in itself would pass but your actions would be remembered.”
Punch Nigeria
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