#TheYNaijaInterview: Why I stopped shooting videos for my songs – Brymo

by Wilfred Okichie

Recording artiste Brymo had an interesting chat with YWand the discussion naturally shifted to his drama with his former record label, Chocolate City. But beyond that, he talked about broader industry problems like the true state of record sales, the dismal distribution network and the not so pretty state of the industry.

We bring you excerpts from the session.

You put out a tweet from your handle some time last year, saying basically that there isn’t a need to hype a great record as the music speaks for itself. In light of the release of your 4th album Tabula Rasa, do you really think this is the right way to go?

The thing about this business is, you no dey blow pass once. When people know you, they already know you and it doesn’t really matter if they would want to listen to you the next time or not. We have a very small market. Apart from Lagos, there are only a handful of states where the market is vibrant. Business wise, everybody knows that it is really difficult to monetise music. Even when I am doing it for the love I have to go back home and tell my loved ones how far because I have become a breadwinner. The issue of visibility isn’t really important because if there are a hundred people that listen to Brymo’s music, what I want is for them to connect me with a hundred other people. Those other people will not come because they like my jeans or sneakers or because my video was fly. They would come because they listened to the music and would like to hear the next project. Because of that, I am trying out other ideas that would make the music profitable for me.

Is this why you have refused to shoot music videos to promote the album?

Who said that the video is the best way to guarantee profitability or visibility? That is just a norm that society has come to accept because artistes that can be said to be the biggest make mad videos. My not doing so doesn’t change the fact that the music is good. I have consistently put out some of the best albums in a year period. And I am only saying this because it is what people understand. You need to brag and say you did stuff for it to catch on. I’ll be 29 in May. I have all the time in the world to keep making music year in year out. That way, the pedigree will grow and people will know that you do this and have been doing it for a while. And for me that is more important than approaching life like there is only one opportunity and once you catch a break, cash out like there won’t be another. I prefer to approach my career record by record.

There is a reason for music videos, they actually help to promote records, I have seen this first hand. You used to make videos in the past. What made you stop?

Is this interview about me not shooting music videos? Look at it this way, if you are tuned into the global scene, you would notice that there are some country music singers and rock artistes who do not shoot a lot of videos, they release an album once in a while and they still shift millions of copies. It is my music and I think it is my right to determine how I want my exposure to come; that is one reason. Another is if I splash 3-5million Naira on a video, don’t you think I would like to get the money back? After splashing that money, would I still be expected to go to someone’s house and lobby for gigs or endorsements? Because that is what will happen at the end of the day. I want to be in control of my finances so I can redirect them if I have to make a video. Third reason is that I want to come up with the best concepts for my videos so they can represent the songs in the best way but I admit that I don’t always come up with these perfect ideas so I have to leave them alone for a while till I am ready.

Does it make it harder for you to secure these endorsements and gigs, this apparent lack of visibility?

No it doesn’t. Not necessarily. This is funny because if I am going to have this interview properly, I would have to start saying things better left unsaid and reopen old wounds. But the truth is, I have enemies in the industry. But that’s ok, everyone does. It’s a bit different in my case because someone thinks I owe them something. I have listened to MI on radio say openly that they know people and they wouldn’t let me move around or work and 2 years ago when we started this solo business I have been going on my lane. But they dragged me to court, claim to have settled out of court, but still refuse to let me roam free. Acting like you are some husband whose husband left them and the man feels like the wife cannot leave because he has invested so much. But I am not anybody’s wife. I am actually smarter than you but you cannot stand it. And this interview is beginning to feel like an investigation.

Despite all that has happened, I am still going my way, trying to make sure things happen for me as organically as possible. It all boils down to the fact that If the industry is lucrative, I would do more videos

Tabula Rasa was ynaija.com’s pick for best album of 2014. But we found out that not a lot our readers have listened to it. As a matter of fact, they cannot find physical copies in the markets. Why is this so?

I put out the penultimate album, Merchant, Dealers and Slaves on the streets but the marketer would return them to me with the excuse that they weren’t moving. He would then want to place all the blame on me, claiming that I did not shoot 4 videos to promote the album. But the truth is I paid my producer and sound people, I look out for those on radio and in the television houses to help me put the songs on rotation. It all boils down to the numbers. If I make a move and it isn’t lucrative, do you expect me to return to it? I can sit here and tell you it isn’t about the money but the truth is that I need to monetize my talent so I can continue to do this. The present arrangement isn’t fit for what I want to do. I am not in support of music being sold for 150 Naira but there are people out there who believe that the masses cannot afford anything more. So instead of us having this conversation on how to make things better for all of us, we try to tie the lack of progress to some people with the excuse that they don’t have money to buy it. It is what industry practitioners should look into. I am also not in support of someone surviving from someone else’s sweat so I need to find ways to get it done. Fortunately for me I have been told many times by industry professionals that physical copies don’t sell anymore so why are people worried because I have refused to print them? I joined the digital scene because I am trying to find solutions to a pressing problem, it doesn’t make me a bad person.

What has been the response to your online venture. Are you selling as much as you would like?

For Tabula Rasa, we definitely have made more sales than M,D&S. we are hoping to do a hundred thousand copies digitally, that would be amazing. We are working harder trying to make the music reach the people. I want to use this opportunity to call on the people in charge to maybe put together a stakeholders meeting with the musicians and distributors and media to sit together in the same place and brainstorm. I am calling on my colleagues to come together to clear our house. We just need to organise.

The raw, throbbing soul of Tabula Rasa and M,D &S is a far departure from the slick, techno pop of Son of a carpenter. Did you need to leave Chocolate City to follow your true calling and make your type of music?

I have always had that freedom but I no go lie I gave it away at some point because I felt like I needed to follow, which is quite normal because sometimes you need to follow so you can lead. But everything I thought was going to happen in a 5 year period happened in 3 years and it isn’t my duty to question nature. It was my duty to get myself out of the situation I found myself. I always had the freedom to do my music but I thought that if I gave it away for a short time, I would be avoiding problems. Till I realised I was going in deeper and had to stop at that moment or never. So Chocolate City took me to a certain point a lot faster than I would have managed on my own.

What kind of artiste would you classify yourself as?

I am a romantic, complainer, enjoyer, disturber of peace. I don’t think I have a definition for who I am or the kind of music I do, it all boils down to the passion I put into my music. It is multi genre, I infuse soft rock, country music, R&B, Afropop. Everything that I enjoy, I like to replicate in my music. With time, I may be able to pinpoint it to one genre but really, who cares about that?

What is your process like?

It starts with coming up with a general idea of what I want the project to be like and then breaking it down into themes and sub topics after which I have to study each of those topics and understand them to an extent so that when I start to write I avoid being vague and sidestep the clichés. It is a very crazy process and then after the recording, you have to edit, check your diction, select what producer is a fit for the song. I play a little of the guitar and pianos.

Are you getting married anytime soon?

I wouldn’t tell you that. But definitely I am expecting a baby from the woman who is in my life. I have a lot of reservations concerning societal institutions like religion and marriage because I realised that if you have something that is working, you don’t necessarily have to define it. Everytime I have defined something, it gets messed up and maybe that is why I have refused to define my music. People are attracted to mystery and when that is gone, then it is ruined. Having said that, if I decide to do the conventional thing and put a ring on it then everybody will know.

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