Thread by @sledge_baba

Sigmas!
9:Ęsàn x 9:Harmattan and Winter by @BrymOlawale
[Full Breakdown and Review].

A Thread💛

In January, 2021, Brymo announced he would drop an album titled 9. The album earned its title because of its significance of being his 9th studio project since he debuted as a singer. 9 is a double-faced album divided into Èsan and Harmattan and Winter.

Èsan consists of 9 songs judiciously delivered in Yoruba, while Harmattan and Winter houses 9 tracks too rendered in English Language. The deployment of language on this recently-released project continues, by way of concept, from where his previous albumYellow left off.

At the ungodly hour of 9th September 2021, @BrymOlawale dropped the album “9” without any form of promotion, announcement, awareness, not even a cover art push before the released date. Yet the album blew up and did amazing numbers on digital platforms across the globe.

9 is a creative mother that gave birth to a set of twins, Èsan and Harmattan and Winter. While Èsan is a child so conversant with indigenousness and the beautiful cultural heritage of his people, one who knows his very own worth and is loudly out to make it known to everyone too,

Harmattan and Winter is a sad boy always exuding darkness and its components like frustrations, anger, lamentations, a search for one self etc. The only thing not dark about him is his s3xual inclination and his love for pleasure and the ideas of hedonism.

9:Esàn (Revenge) Tracklist:

1. “Àkoko”
2. “Méjì Méjì”
3. “Okùnrin Meta (Edùn okàn)”
4. “Okán Mi Ti Fo Wewe”
5. “Tèmi Nì Tèmi”
6. “Òkùnkùn”
7. “Alelúyà Méje”
8. “Fura Sára”
9. “Ààre”

9:Harmattan and Winter Tracklist:

1. “F**King Awesome”
2. “Harmattan & Winter”
3. “The Dark”
4. “I Don’t Have a Heart”
5. “Beast”
6.  “Winifred”
7. “Emotions and Limbs”
8. “We All Lose Sometimes”
9. “There’s a Place”

9:Esàn (Revenge) :

1. AKOKO:
Esan kicks off to a beautiful start with “Àkókò”, which translates to “First”, where Brymo asserts himself as first among equals amidst sonorous backing vocals, indulging himself in self-acclamation with the lyrics.

In what anyone would take to be self-glorification, maybe an eulogy specific to Yoruba culture per se, Brymo weaves an ode for himself with so much authority and boldness.
Brymo never held back on blowing his own trumpet and singing praises of his character and also eulogizes..

himself as a strong, narcissistic man with limitless ability on this track.
Referring to himself as “Okunrin meta ati abo” meaning “Three men and a half” which is sarcastically used by the Yoruba people as a panegyric to boost man’s masculinity.

This is knowing and acknowledging your self-worth or self esteem in its simplest form. That’s not pride!

2. MEJI MEJI:
Meaning “Double Double” or for clear context “In twos”. On this track, Brymo muses on the duality of life and its balance; (Yin and Yang) Bad and Good, Love and Hate, Highs and Lows.
Brymo’s assertion is not alien to the Yorubas, it is embedded in their traditional

beliefs that even humans were created as twins, and if one is lucky enough before he dies, he would meet his twin counterpart. Brymo puts his baritone to use on this beautiful piece as he lays out an exhortation on what he surmised as the best way to journey through life.

and its challenges.

Méjì Méjì does not wind to an end without a takeaway; the singer, while alluding to the book of James, chapter 1 verse 19 hence, “be quick to listen but slow to judge”, states that virtue or good behavior does not guarantee financial success or fulfillment

while religion does not bring redemption.

Brymo performed “Meji Meji” as the opening track at Organized Chaos 2021 and that was one of the most beautiful moment of this song in my books. So glorious 💛

Video below:

3. OKUNRIN META(Èdùn Okàn):

“Èdùn Okàn” meaning “Pains from the heart”. Brymo sings to address Toxic masculinity on this track. He sings about the undue pressure placed on men in traditional society. In his lyrics “Oga ta, oga o ta, olopa gba riba kasa” In english translates

“Whatever happens, the police will collect bribe” meaning the society doesn’t care about your emotional pain and suffering as a Man, Cos men are expected to Man up always and live up to the society’s expectations. He describes himself as darkness which should be destroyed on the

first verse, and light which destroys gloom on the second verse. Brymo has stated in one line of the song that “mo wuwo bí èsan” (I am heavy like revenge) while describing himself as the light which fights darkness.

He describes his pain as a vehicle he rides on to bring “Esan” vengeance to every one who has wronged or Crossed him.

4.Okan Mi tí fó wę wę:

Meaning “My heart is shattered into pieces” is the Yoruba rendition of “I don’t have a heart” from the English twin album “Harmattan and winter”. On a different instrumental and language but same message of raising his middle finger to Polygamy.

Brymo himself tweeted a while ago that the track is “Pro monogamy”. The song exposes the indigenous belief of Yorùbá polygamists that “real men keep two to three” women. Brymo keeps one, and he is tagged a coward who runs “and cower to fear” by the society.

It is ridiculous how you tell a man who cannot handle one woman to marry three or four.

Brymo further sings to tell of his desire to salvage what’s left from a previous romantic relationship that once hit the rock,

as He is ready to do the unthinkable to please his partner but she ends up leaving him in spite of all that, as told in the second verse of the song.

5. Temi ni Temi:

meaning “What’s mine is mine”.
A track that started as a beautiful love song in which Brymo seemed to be apologizing for something he did, while professing his love and how he does not want to lose Her. This track answers the question that has bothered many

about Brymo: why did he drop Afrobeats after Ara, Oleku, Shawty etc? Why is he unconventional? Why does he not relate with the other A-list artistes? Why does he not go by the status quo? Why?. Brymo does not and will not do all these because “àfarawé ò se tèmi”

(imitation isn’t my thing) or “ká dá dúró ni mo wá rí” (being different is what I discovered). He sings about how he has been severally misunderstood and criticized by many, even when all he has ever tried to do was just be himself and sell his music. Hence the lyrics “Bi nba

fa a, won l'ole, Bi nba tule, won lo ro, Bi nduro won ma mu'ere, Bi nba sa won ni mo kere”…

Realizing that you cannot please humans, Brymo shows that he no longer cares about people’s perception of him, hence, “bó wù wón, k’ón para won” (if they like, they can kill themselves).

6. Òkùnkùn:

meaning “Darkness”. Is also the English rendition of “Darkness”(Off Harmattan and Winter) album, Of course different language and instrumental.
As this song can easily pass as a tribute to Brymo’s lover who thinks Brymo is hiding away from her.

He also sang to defy the religious belief that there’s an afterlife.
He believes it’s all just a fable as he suspects “Òkùnkùn lati wa, Òkùnkùn la nlo(From the dark we come and to the dark we shall return)”. Even with all that, he never failed to emphasize on the importance of ..

of Love through this journey.

He drowned himself in the sad reality, And trust Brymo to always unleash his vocal god mode whenever he’s singing from a place of vulnerability or lovesick.

Ever noticed that about him?🧐

7. Alelúyà Méje:

meaning “Seven Hallelujah”.
Brymo seized this track to take a satirical jab at the average Nigerian response to problems like bad governance. He scoffs at the default Nigerian response of “Let’s pray about it” whenever the issue of bad governance arises.

The whole song is also a reference to the Federal Government proposed repressive laws against its citizens. The National Assembly is guilty of trying to make a restrictive law that forbids citizens from calling out politicians on social media (hate speech), hence the twitter ban.

He reflected on the social injustice that triggered the 2020 #EndSars protests. The song is a reference to “gbogbo ìsèlè kánrinkése” (all the unending tragic occurrences) and how politicians ran out of the country during the 2020 social unrest occasioned by the

Lekki Massacre, “òsèlú feré ge”.
Brymo channeled his inner Fela Anikulapo Kuti on this upbeat rhythm but gloomy lyrics track.

8.Fura Sàra:

meaning “Be self-conscious”. Never have you seen Brymo in a more vulnerable state than he is on this song. Brymo sings from the perspective of a lover who is tired of his lover entertaining every trivial talk and hearsay from the third party that’s trying to ruin

the beautiful love they share. It even gets to the extent that she picks fights with him over such hearsay.

Woven on a dark keyboard sound, Brymo rues his woman’s beliefs in hearsays or accusations of things he isn’t guilty of.

9.Ààrę:

Meaning “The President”.
Aare is the last track and outro on the Esan album.
This socially conscious track started with Brymo creating a Satire of the Presidential address we received from President BuBu😒 after the Lekki - Massacre.

Though saturated with Humor but carries a strong message, like the President claiming the protesters are only trying to remove him from his seat. In the song, the singers state that “ààre n bò lájö” (the president is coming home from abroad).

This is to mock the Nigerian president who is known for frequently flying abroad on medical trips while his country boils with several crises.

9: Harmattan and Winter.

1. Fv*cking Awesome:

On this braggadocious Self-Adulatory track, Brymo reflects on his Self-Awareness and personal decisions as he sings to seek compassion, clarity and patience from his lover (Or from life) while he works for a lot of money and

a love cruise on a yacht.

The demand and wishes are immeasurable, thus, they go “on and on” and “pour and pour”. The first verse is borne out of frustration as Brymo demands “clarity” and “brevity” regarding “everything” he thinks he has been doing “wrong all along”.

2.Harmattan and Winter:

This is my personal favorite on this album as it captures and projects Brymo’s idea about life and religious beliefs.
Brymo recounts the story of his life as the songs opens with the lyrics “when I was in hell, I worked for the devil/And heaven was for

zombies who feel”…Zombies are generally known as walking dead who can feel no pain or pleasure. However, heaven has been described as a place without pain but pleasure. He then further sings about Nirvana: a place believed by buddhists where there’s no pain but pleasure as the

christians also describes “Heaven” Brymo speaks of pouring himself “a double” which can easily translates as him seeking pleasure on his way to heaven. An act that’s considered as sin in some religion. Brymo sings about how much he fell for the idea of heaven as described by men.

The video of the song itself shows a man running shirtless and barefooted from a long distance with the hope that he would finally find his woman—the man could be described as seeking pleasure.

When he finally gets to see his woman, two guys, a black man (Harmattan) and a white man (Winter) seize the man.

The black takes the man away and orders his white compatriot to shoot the woman. The woman is killed and the man is taken away. This representation

as seen in this video lends a strong support to the fact that life is futile. The man runs all the way from a very long distance to catch up with his happiness, all for the happiness (the pleasure he seeks) to be snatched away from him before his eyes by the evils of life.

3. The Dark: The Dark is the English version of Òkùnkùn, the sixth track of Èsan, the first part of the 9 album written in Yorùbá.

4. I Don’t Have a Heart: is the Yorùbá version of Okàn Mi Ti Fó Wéwé, track 4 on Èsan.

5. BEAST:

The dark theme of this album emerged strongly on this track, as Brymo finally declares he’s irreligious. He sings about how religion made a beast out of him.

Brymo sings to represent a lot of people like him who are regarded as “a moron” for loosing their

“way to pleasure”. Pleasure seekers are “too callous to be religious”.
He makes it clear that Love is the only religion he believes in. He hopes the religious would later see the light in the future and understand that pleasure seekers are not the enemy.

The pressure is much but the drown is not for someone like @BrymOlawale .

Even though he and his likes are condemned, these people still loose sleep on him because he stampedes through their feelings. Haha 😂

6. Winifred:

This track signifies the first light out of the tunnel, as it gives a different feel from its predecessors. Lol.

Winifred is an ode to Esse Kakadaare’s Mother (Brymo’s mother in-law).

He sings to acknowledge her as being stronger than defeat, stronger than she shows. A woman whose “Heart is made of Gold”.

7. Emotions and Limbs:

Brymo creates a picturesque representation of a passionate sexual moment between two lovers.
The song reminds the male lover that his lover’s moan which may resemble a cry “is all in the moment”, therefore “go deep, go faster” and “go rough, go harder”—

don’t stop.
As it also reminds the female lover to “choose the clawing now” because “when we come undone… I will heed no sound”. It is clear! When s3xual pleasures become too overwhelming for a female, she may unconsciously press her nails into her lover’s back and

maybe a little love bites. 😈

The sexual image even becomes clearer when Brymo sings “you stroke some, you ride some/She flops all over”. Stroking some refers to handjob, a foreplay, while riding some refers to penetrative sex.

8. We all loose sometimes:

According to Brymo on this track, losing comes with a plethora of bad feelings—including rage, heartbreak, violence and “regrets”. Regardless, “it’s alright” because “we all lose sometimes”.

Brymo shares the frustration of the addressee of his song

as he sighs aloud four lines into the song. “You”, as addressed, never expected to succeed from the beginning because “you always knew you’re going down”. “Your razor mouth, your envy, and ill-temper” may be responsible for your failures too, as pointed out by Brymo.

However,two

pieces of messages were clear on this song;

The first is the claim that “you are who your friends are, always remember”.

The second is the fact that when you are “gone” from a place, it is either “they don’t want you no more” or “you don’t need them no more”.

9. There’s A Place:

On the album last track, Brymo captures a society rotten in every aspect of its existence. This society is plagued by “wars and bombings everywhere”.There are “preachers” preaching what they themselves do not practice. There is chaos and pains and complaints

of “I see no changes”. This society is “a lost cause” according to Brymo.
Rather than facilitate change, the leaders, especially the religious leaders and the political leaders, continue to sell “hope” to citizens for the latter’s “survival”.

However, the second verse of the song initiates a bit of relief as Brymo sells more ideas of hedonism hinging it on “a perfect world, pleasure for all, and squabbles don’t belong”. To him, pleasure seekers are “the dreamers of the years to come/

We live everywhere you turn/In villages and towns and cities/Without us they’d be gone”.

More interestingly, Brymo gets more literary as he brings the song to a total halt, clearing his throat and allowing his own voice to metaphorically capture the tyranny that is evident in a

particular government unmentioned. The character in this illustration is symbolically named “Bonehead”. This is to show how brainless the political leaders of this society are. Bonehead is so full of himself that he has no “respect” for anyone, with his “infamously golden rules”.

Bonehead invades the privacy of Brymo,the narrator,and he is not spared as the latter smashes the former’s head with a shotgun hence “Bonehead is gone/And now the boys can play freely and think on their own/Tyranny is dead/Long lives freedom”.This is pure Literature on this song.

Brymo’s assumption of the role of a griot and the illustration itself only point to a particular direction—that he, Brymo, is more than a singer.

Bonehead is used to represent the aged politicians who have never shown any signs of retiring from the politics of Nigeria,

therefore when Bonehead dies and Brymo says “now the boys can play and think freely on their own,” he is talking about the younger generation that consists of people who will take up the responsibility of governing their country.

Brymo proves once again, that he is the difference most people seek in music. I mean, who drops an album without announcing it? Who laces an album with so much indigenization? Who combines wisdom, intelligence, proverbs, parables, lessons, tradition,

beauty and so on in his artistry? Who makes so much meaning in every line of a piece of music?

If Esàn x Harmattan and winter is glorious, What should we expect of Theta?

Big shoutout and Research credit goes to :
Epasswords.com.ng
Afrocritik.com
Pulseng.com

At some point i was creative block while writing this breakdown.
The above named sources were the places i read, picked from and gathered inspiration.

As you read, please RETWEET and FOLLOW ME for more contents.❤️

Incase you missed it.
Check out the Full Breakdown for the Yellow Album.

https://twitter.com/sledge_baba/status/1250032725999919105