ON OUR RADAR: THE RISING SENSATION OF AFROBEATS’ PABRYMO [@PABRYMO]
who: PaBrymo @pabrymo
genre: afrobeats, dancehall and afro-trap
where: benin city, nigeria
Introducing Cape Town based Nigerian Afrobeats rising sensation PaBrymo with his sophomore EP titled ‘CITY BOY’. This EP from PaBrymo is a testament to his artistic evolution, and reveals the unique blend of passion, energy, and authenticity that he brings to the afrobeats landscape.
Bethel: Nigerian boy in Cape Town. You spoke of the influences from Benin on your music but do you have influences around you now that make your music what it is today?
PaBrymo: I don’t really do Amapiano, but I get inspired from hearing South African music; Amapiano, they have deep soul music, vocalist music. I would say that inspires me and I’ll say Cape Town as a whole inspires me because it’s beautiful. It’s calm, it’s so chill. Your lifestyle, the people, the food, the culture, everything around there inspires me.
Bethel: What do you think is going to be different when you head back to Naij.
PaBrymo: Nigeria, Naija! Naija is great all the time. Especially in Lagos, a lot is happening for music, people are just connecting and meeting people. I’m feeling good to be back home in Lagos. It’s good to be around my people, always good to make great music here, connect with Nigerians, eat my Nigerian food, and be with my old-time friends. It’s just fun and it’s always fun.
Bethel: You work with blends of afrobeats, dancehall, and afrotrap. What do you think makes your music unique and how would you describe your sound?
PaBrymo: I think my sound is different; I think it’s special. Right now, there are different parts of Afrobeats: afro-swing, afro-rave. People are trying to infuse different things into Afrobeats, so I really don’t know where my sound particularly lies, but I know it’s different. I’m still doing Afrobeats like everybody else, but if you hear my voice, if you hear my sound, it’s versatile. Today, I could sing Afro-trap; tomorrow, I could be doing Afro-something. Anything great in music, I’ll create.
Bethel: You value your community and your circle of friends. In what ways has this elevated your career, the way you work and the quality of your work?
PaBrymo: My friends inspire my life a lot; I love them a lot, obviously. They’ve been supportive throughout my journey with this whole music thing. Shout out to my friends for actually being there and holding it down, and helping me to even get a little bit of the recognition that I’m getting right now.
See, I’m having an interview with GUAP. I really wouldn’t have thought that I would even get here this soon. I’m looking forward to more interviews. As for my Benin culture, obviously the likes of Rema. Rema is from Benin too; just watching him get to where he is now inspires me, inspires my music. I’m trying to take it back home now to Benin and listen to more of the sounds from Benin, so I can explore more of the roots of where I’m from and its music, and take it to the top.
Bethel: You said ‘As a boy from Benin City, it felt surreal to imagine back then that this could be a reality.’ Now that you know anything is possible, what’s next in store for you?
PaBrymo: What’s next in terms of me and my music? I just want to take it to the top. I want to see what the world has for me. I want to explore. I’m coming to Europe; I’m coming to the UK. I want to connect, I want to meet people, take pictures, do magazine covers, and do interviews because I like fashion. So I’m trying to kind of get into the fashion world, trying to connect with people, and see what the world has for me. I’m fully prepared for this. You know, I think it’s wartime, it’s like a battle ahead that I need to be ready for.
You can listen to his ‘City Boy’ EP below and discover more from GUAP’s Music section here!