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.”
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