Controversy sells in the entertainment industry and Brymo’s latest music video of his song Heya off his Oso album is not short of it. While some referred to the video as a publicity stunt born out of a desperate craving for attention, others called it a pure, unfettered expression of creativity.
In the video, Olawale Ashimi, a.k.a Brymo was filmed naked, save for a patch tied around his waist and covering his groin, playing a grand piano and singing his music in a spot underneath the 3rd Mainland Bridge.
The video immediately spiked up to about 100,000 views within three days of being published with many people reacting with their various opinions of the intention behind the video.
According to some, the video was a reminder that Brymo was an exceptional artiste who deserved respect on the music scene while some others thought he had pushed it too far. A few Twitter users even questioned the singer’s sanity.
@Osascruz “Nudity in music video is not okay, it doesn’t matter who did it or who is doing it. Music video I can’t watch in Presence of my younger ones.
“Brymo is super talented but nude? I guess dude is looking for what will sale the video, and it’s working.
@_Maestro “What Brymo wore in Heya video is not a G-String, its what our ancestors used to wear long before some cultures settled and long long before the whites came. Know your history people.
@Phobuia05 “You are just seeking for an attention and a way to come back to the music industry maybe people will think you still exist … abi why are you wearing g-string. I remember u once released an album called CLITORIS … your career don finish , so just go and rest and don’t stress yourself man.
@Samiduro “Nigerians please pray for Brymo.Going nude and being weird has now become dope, this guy deserves 14 years.
@Thatblaqboy “So Brymo shot a music video where he was naked and some people are already shouting Gay! Is he now mad? He should just act proper porn! Smh… Holier than thou ignoramuses! Hypocrites rada rada!
@Emeke_05 “I know creativity when I see one and Brymo indeed is a Gem.But that new music video though, can’t lie it’s kinda stupid. I was feeling ashamed while watching it.
@Abbatellum “There’s nothing wrong with that video Abeg. Haven’t video vixens been showing us back side since. Nothing there. They Camera was even shy of Brymo gann.
@Rouvafe “There is a very twisted and lame narrative I’ve been seeing over this Brymo video and that’s the false narrative that if it were a female Artiste, she would have been seriously condemned.
“Female Artistes & vixens have been going nude since time immemorial & no one calls them out.
@Mr_Dwright ” Brymo is just too creative, and there is no real creativity without madness. Nice video with some Art display
@Davala08 “There are certain levels of creativity, Brymo this isn’t one of them!
Brymo’s explanation
In his defence, the musician has stated that contrary to popular opinion, the video was just a means of communicating his creativity. He said:
“The song is an expression of my environment. I like to paint as much as I can and I think that most of us are bush people, even though we live in cities. The video portrayed a bush man living in the city. If you look around, you wouldn’t see much evidence of civilisation. We did not create most of the things that we use in this country and that’s not good. We need to think”
He further buttressed that the popular claim that he is underrated in the country isn’t correct, stating that people who do not know him are only looking in the wrong places. In reality, Brymo headlined a number of shows including the very recent one at Hard Rock Café on April 1st.
In his reaction to whether or not the stunt was for publicity, Brymo replied thus:
“Even if it’s a publicity stunt, is there anything wrong with that? Singers spend a lot of time and energy in the studio. So is there anything absurd in them drawing some attention to their songs?”
Controversy over Technical Excellence
One major aspect of the whole controversy that is largely agreeable is on the fact that the particular sound of this song isn’t among the singer’s top ten best songs and the technicalities of the video are considered to be very basic cinematography with a fancy location and fancy aerial shots.
The story of the song isn’t exactly clear to the listeners who may not properly understand the language and generally, the nudity is a serious distraction to the overall message.
In 2014, Tiwa Savage released a video for her song ‘Wanted’ which depicted her unclad and was generally regarded as raunchy and was criticised for the absolute lack of depth of the technical aspects of the video.
In an interview with Pulse TV’s Osagie Alonge, Tiwa Savage disclosed that she decided to tow that path because she felt her fans no longer consider her “hot” as she got married and she wanted to reassure her fans that she was still ‘hot’. She went further to state that she was disappointed with the video when she discovered teenage girls emulating her and realized that there were people who were ‘inspired’ by her.
Artistes are known to forever crave more and more attention. With increased pressure on them to forever stay relevant, Tiwa Savage is found nowadays around over-a-decade-younger Whizkid, sometimes bending over and taking kisses in what many will describe as art, while others call it desperation and an unending hunt for validation.
