SOUND OF WIZARDRY IN BRYMO’S OSO ALBUM

Olawale Ashimi better known as Brymo released his sixth studio album on 27th of March, 2018. ‘Oso’ is a follow up after work after of album. Brymo has proven over the past half-decade as an album artiste and most of his works have been packed with powerful messages. In an interview with PulseTv, he describes his music as afro fusion which is packed with different genres and he deeply paints his sound as alternative with elements of Rock.
Just like all his previous albums, Oso album is a piece its own unique theme. Oso is based largely on research and it is the first album by Brymo to be mainly created on Piano. It is recorded in English, Pidgin English and Yoruba language. Oso (Wizardry) sets to be deeply satirical with a blend of love issues. Every track on the album has been written by Brymo himself with no collaboration. More importantly, Oso shares similar tracklist arrangement with his last four studio album which is the 11 tracklist style. He probably considers the number 11 as his lucky number. A die-hard fan will love to ask him about this format.

‘No be me’ is one of the tracks with hard core truth concerning political dispensation in our present society. He stands as an intermediary and message bearer of truth. His message points to every member of the society and admonishes individuals to stop putting the blame on each other.
‘Mama’ may not be the best ‘Mama titled song’ in Nigeria and it may seem quite surprising that it is the shortest track on the album. This particular track has been the most complex track on the album because Brymo seems to address different things as Mama. The word ‘Mama’ on this track serves as a symbolism to different spheres of life. It seems the track has been intentionally made short to make listeners fill the puzzle.
The titled track ’Patience and Goodluck’ may prove a little sense of humour at first sight relation to the former president and his wife but reverse is the content of the song;
‘Some people know say the drug for sorrow na attitude’.
He asserts that patience is key and the way to goodlife.
Some of Brymo songs go beyond literary meaning. He does not use much of English vocabulary but his mix of words can make some of his songs sound a bit complex for ordinary music listeners. He is sincerely one of Nigerian music act to possess context prowess and vocal dexterity.
‘God is  in your mind’ sounds controversial but the idea behind the song is the existence of God in the lives of mankind.
In few days, ‘Heya’ has been able to move to the height of being the lead single off the album after releasing a visual  portraying a cave man playing the Piano. It depicts a message of humans living in a modern life with shallow thought.

‘Olumo’ and ‘Olanrewaju’ serves as an appraisal to one of Nigerian’s greatest monument, ‘Olumo’ and the growth of a child to adulthood respectively.
‘Ba nuso’ is the last track on the album and it is undoubtly one of the best tracks on the album. This will be a good song to play for a Yoruba parent. It is plainly in Yoruba language and it translated into ‘Keep opinion to thy self’. The music sounds more indigenous than the previous tracks. It further has minor qualities of high life sound with simple chorus and irresistible chant.

Brymo has been one of the criticised artistes in the Nigerian music industry over the years and this has not reduced his credibility as a great song writer. Some of his works is still been referred to as classics.
The only setback in the album is the complexity of some of the tracks because some listeners may find it difficult to crack some of the literary devices used. The album would have been a complete work if it could be made more relatable.
With all the assessment and criticism, the album has 7.4 out of 10

By Ogunleye Oluwakorede

About Me  

Ogunleye Oluwakorede writes majorly on entertainment, history and
socio-economic matters. He has previously released works like album reviews and
content information. He is also a music critic and analyst particularly on
Nigerian music entertainment.

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