In this no holds barred interview with the artiste known as Brymo, the soulful singer spoke about his time at Chocolate City, the effect of the court case that put him at loggerheads with his former label, which earlier prevented him from doing music, and what he thinks of his colleagues, who are supporting politicians.
He said he would have been a lawyer and taken after the likes of Festus Keyamo and late Gani Fawehinmi, revealing that he left the Lagos State University (LASU) when his father could no longer pay for his school fees. Excerpt.
Who is Brymo?
My real name is Olawale Oloro'fo also known as Brymo. Olawale is the person behind the Brymo. We pick stage names so that we can differentiate our personal lives from our life on screen. Brymo is a musician, songwriter, singer, philosopher, poet, a complainer and all that comes with a lot of emotions. There is no art without emotions. And contrary to it that men do not have emotions, I stand to differ. Olawale on the other hand is a very private person. Sometimes, both sort of spill into each other. At the end of the day, it is the same person doing two different things.
Tell us about your education
I grew up in in a place called Okokomaiko. I attended a primary school called Ajangu Aka. I grew up in a place called Aka in Abule Aka. But there were lots of strikes in the schools, so my dad took me a private school where I did my last three years. I went to another public secondary school called Ajangbadi High School. I went to Lagos State University, LASU and did two years roughly and I ran. I had to deal with the fact that my dad had to cough out the school fees every time I asked and he could not bear it. He kept on saying I should wait till the following week. I practically saw him struggling to get the money out. After all that, there was still risk of another strike, there was risk of me graduating and not getting a job.
The music was already starting to bloom. Then I had a video on MTV for a song called, 'Shorty'. I talked to myself that if something was already growing over here and I am not even sure where this (education) is going. And I had to make two choices; One was to stay with school and probably forget music all together or leave school and go to the music and become a learner forever. So I decided for the second option; to go for music and I then dedicated my entire life to learning.
Benefit of your time at Chocolate City?
Quite a lot. It was like a step up from where I left off in 2008 with 'Shorty'. Whatever may have happened, it was a step up for me, even though the whole thing did not play out as I expected it to, which brought about the break up.
There were a lot of benefits I got while with Choc City. I was on the song, ‘Oleku' with Ice Prince, I was on a song with M.I titled ‘Action Film', I was on a song with Jesse Jagz, 'Lov U'. It exposed me to a number of people in the industry where I was able to do features with them. So while contributing my quota to the label, I was able to get something out of it.
Why did Brymo leave Chocolate City?
It was simply a business gone wrong. I wanted to stay for as long as possible, even after the contract and do more. I felt good when I came there. But sometimes, walking away could be the best option. It is really difficult for me to talk about it. So much has been said over a two-year period. I just want everything to just go, especially I did all the talking in that period and instead of the other party saying what they needed to say, they kept saying, 'He is emotional, he is emotional..' to the point where it became advisable for me to stop talking too. Go to the case file at the court and get a copy of the initial charges brought against Brymo.
Reaction to the song done by M.I titled, 'My Brother'
It is a lovely song. I do not know who the song is directed at. If I were to make a song directed at a particular person, I would mention their names. If names were not mentioned, how am I suppose to know who the song was directed at.
He concluded.
Source---nigeriafilm
No comments:
Post a Comment