Tag: Brymo

Former chocolate City artiste, Olawale Ashimi, popularly known as Brymo, is set to release his fourth studio album titled Tabula Rasa.

Tabula Rasa is his first album since he left his former record label, following a protracted legal battle.

Given some background into the album title, he said: “I was still thinking about the title when one day in the court room, the judge used it in a speech. I immediately decided I would use it. It refers to a theory that we were born without built-in mental content as a child.”

He also said the album was inspired by the expectations of such good news.

Brymo shot to the limelight when he featured on Ice Prince’s Oleku.

The legal tussle between Chocolate City and its estranged artiste, Brymo, took a new twist yesterday, as a Federal High Court, sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, ordered that the artiste be allowed to continue his business without interference from Chocolate City.

Justice I.N. Buba lifted the court injunction on Brymo, saying the singer should continue his musical career while the case continues.

The judge said the plaintiff and defendant should bring their witnesses to the hearing on March 19 and 20.

He said Brymo was free to continue his music, adding that Chocolate City would be compensated.

“Since the plaintiff can be compensated at a later date, the defendant is free to carry out his duties as a singer, so that none of the parties will be at advantage.”

Counsel to Chocolate City Mr. T.O Lawal said the bone of contention was the breach of contract filed against Brymo, for walking out on the label while his contract still runs till April 2016.

He said emphasis should be on the court injunction against the singer, since money could not adequately compensate in the music business.

Brymo’s counsel Ms. Nike Olagbede, who apologised for her conduct at the last hearing, said her client was right to quit Chocolate City, because the label reneged on the contract.

According to Olagbede, “Brymo signed a three-album five-year contract, but walked out when all he was promised wasn’t met. He wants to be released because artistes in the music industry have a short business lifespan.”

After months of public debate on whether it is possible for Brymo to leave Chocolate City before the expiration of his contract with the record label, the music company has said it is taking the Ara crooner to court.

Though it was later discovered that the singer did not receive any such injunction from his former label, his new management company, The Bail Music Company, has issued a statement, asserting their artiste’s readiness to defend himself if Chocolate City cannot settle amicably with the singer.

A statement from Brymo’s camp reveals that on October 30, 2013, a meeting was held between Brymo, his Management and representatives of Chocolate City at the Chocolate City office. This was after prior attempts at reaching a mutually acceptable resolution of the conflict between the artiste and the record label.

According to the statement, after deliberations at the meeting, certain terms were agreed between the parties and Chocolate City promised to capture the terms in an agreement to be signed by both parties.

A few days later, it states, Chocolate City sent in a plan with terms which were not reflective of the deliberations and agreements at the said meeting. A similar occurrence had taken place in June when lawyers representing Chocolate City promised to hand Brymo a Statement of Release from the label on the condition that he would give up his album, Son of a Kapenta to the label.

BARELY two months after Jesse Jagz took a bow from Chocolate City following the completion of his contract, rumours of the exit of another label artiste Brymo, is making the rounds. But President of the music house, Audu Maikori and his deputy, M.I say there is need to differentiate between wishful thinking and reality.

They urge that people on the social media should not join in popularizing falsehood which is not good for the image of the company. They argued that, Brymo may have made a statement that suggests he is no longer with the label, but the artistes cannot leave because he is still in a legal relationship with the company.

The company stated that the singer still has a few years and two albums to deliver in line with his contract.

“For someone to just wake up and tweet anything doesn’t hold ground because there’s a contract and he has to come back and fulfill his obligations. If an artiste feels that he wants to leave for one reason or the other then there’s a proper way to do it,” Maikori explained.

The rift appears to have started when few weeks back, Brymo uploaded a picture of himself smoking a ‘joint’, which did not go down well with the label. Some sanctions may have been imposed on the artiste which he did not take in good faith, leading to the slipshod talk about his exit on twitter. But the company is certain that the storm will be over in no time.

Unknown to many, Chocolate City lyricist, Ashimi Olawale Ibrahim, aka Brymo, has been on the music scene for a while having come on stage in 2007 with the debut album, Brymstone, which scored him a major hit. Brymo became a household name when he did the hook for Ice Prince’s Oleku.

He further proved to critics that he is not a one-off artiste when his single, Ara, rocked the airwaves. He speaks with OVWE MEDEME on sundry issues, including his latest album, career as well as his vices.

 

IT has been a rewarding year of winning awards. How does it make you feel?

That is an amazing feeling. When I was called to get the Channel O award, I was shocked. I was sitting there not certain whether it would come to me but when they called my name I couldn’t believe it.

How did you celebrate it?

I called a few friends together. By the time I got back to Lagos, I made sure there was food in the house. Of course there is always food in the house. I always make out time to relax with my friends so I didn’t think there should be any special celebration.

Why did you name your album Son of a Carpenter?

Apparently my dad is a carpenter and I was trying to tell my story to people my age so they can actually understand that, irrespective of where we are from or who our parents are, no matter how rich or not they are, we can always be whatever we want to be.

What is the content of your new album like?

The new album contains 18 songs but the online version contains 13 tracks. I tried as much as I could to put enough energy into the tracks so people don’t get bored when they listen. It is a summary of my story from birth to where I am today and it is broken down into three chapters.

What is the concept behind breaking it down into chapters?

I think everybody knows that we are in the industry to get paid but then, music is a very sentimental business. There are artistes who will do music fully because they like the way it sounds, whether it sells or not. An artiste has to make money. Money is more important than anything else. There are some of us who think that, at the end of the day, there is that grey area between trying to impress people with your lyrics and being the best at what you do. Some of us believe in that. I divided the album into parts so that people would differentiate the songs in each chapter and listen according to their mood.

Who did you feature in this album?

I did a feature with Jesse Jagz and of course there is a Choc Boi song that contains other label mates. There is no outsider in it.

Is that a deliberate thing?

There is no other person on the album because I spent the greater part of two years recording everything. Between 2010 and now, I have been in the studio, recording but during that time, I have been known for giving hooks to songs. The same thing happened when I sang Oleku.

I like to actually classify my work as easy. I like to space myself when I work, so in that process, I had already recorded about 20 songs. After doing a couple of features which added to my CV, I thought it was time I started recording on my own. People had started referring to me as a hook master. I don’t think I want to be identified as a hook master. How do I get people to change from calling me hook master? That was when I started working on songs on my own.

What kind of feedback are you expecting on that?

I expect people to like my own songs more.

In the Nigerian scene, hip hop angles more towards the rap genre. Are you content being just a singer?

Whenever I hear people say that the Nigerian music is only for fresh people, it makes me laugh. Nobody can sing anything that is not in relation to Nigeria and sell it here. You can make a lot of money doing videos and all but there is always that relationship between your music and the people you are trying to sell it to. That is just the normal thing. There is always a target audience for people who want to make songs. Also in Nigeria, there are lots of people who make music in English and they turn out big. At the end of the day, it all boils down to the fact that it is the content, what you are trying to get across, which matters. I am a part of the hip hop scene as well. All the artistes in the hip hop scene are actually my friends. Basically, in the music industry, there are different genres and different angles to it.

What inspires your creativity?

I think mostly, it is other musicians. I always tell myself that as long as other people are making great music, I get inspired.

At the point of joining Chocolate City, you said that you felt intimidated because the artistes there are mainly rappers. Do you still consider that the case?

Over the years, I have gotten to know them better. Over these two years as well, I have been able to build my career as a singer, so really that is no longer the case. We all have our individual careers.

Do they get to call you all the time to deliver the hooks to their rap songs?

Of course not. If I am on every Chocolate City track, what does that mean?

At some point, it was rumoured that you were being sidelined in the label. Was that ever the case?

No actually, it was never the case. If there is one thing I like most about Chocolate City is the fact that, if you know what you are doing and you have a plan, it is the best place for you to be. It was a deliberate move by me to take my time because really, if we dissect it and look at it thoroughly, why should anybody want to just put out materials back-to-back for five years and then fizzle out. If I want to have a music career, I think I would like to have as much as ten albums. How can I position myself like that? Nobody is sidelining anybody in Chocolate City.

How much connection do you feel with your Okokomaiko hood?

I still have my friends over there. I have been there twice this year. I will definitely be there December 31. I am always there on the last day of the year when we do a street gig. We have been doing it since 2006 so I will be there for that.

What is your favourite vice?

Funny enough, everybody knows our vices. It is funny when people ask us how we deal with our female fans. Of course they know what goes down. At the end of the day, we are all trying to be better people but without being told, there is the woman syndrome and there is alcohol. Right now, marijuana is about to be legalised in some parts of the world so people like myself are silently waiting.

Are you in for the legalisation of weed?

I am, one hundred percent. It will not happen in Nigeria but then, let’s not worry ourselves too much. If it is legalised in Europe and America, Nigerian leaders would pretend they don’t see it anymore. When the white man legalises something, the black man goes along with it.

What is the worst and the best thing a fan has done to you?

The best thing is that they love my music; the worst thing is that they think I am perfect when I am not. Something happened to me recently when I posted nude pictures online. I got a shocking reaction. People condemned me for doing that. But then, I think that is expected. I am just getting to meet my fans so I would have to adjust.

Was it your nude picture?

It was a nude picture.

When you were pranked on the Big Friday Show, you acted guilty. Where you having an affair with a lady called Naomi?

The thing is, yes, I knew a Naomi so when the guy came to say I got his girlfriend pregnant and her name is Naomi, what happened to me in the first few minutes while everybody was screaming was that I was thinking. The Naomi I know is not pregnant. I was confused for a while. The only way for me to find out what was going on is for me to leave the place. So I thought if I walk out, I would either know if it is a prank or I can call Naomi to find out if truly she is pregnant. That was when I was told it was a prank. So really, it was more of confusion than guilt.

You once dedicated a song to someone special in Ghana. How serious is that?

I know quite a lot of people in Ghana, amazing people. You can say that I am dating a Ghanaian. There is this chick I really like. Funny enough, I don’t think I have felt that way about anybody else for a while now. The song was dedicated to her. She was actually at the show that night. Her name is Sandra. She is Ghanaian.

Is she the lady in your life?

Yes. The last time I had a girlfriend, she was the one.