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After years of senseless stigma and music publishing obscurity, especially on revealing song credits, these unsung heroes are finally stepping into a spotlight they very much wrote to create.
Taking a kaleidoscopic view on the sharpest and most renowned pens in the Afrobeats scene, the wits of Prince Omoferi, professionally known as Mbryo, is quite impossible to ignore. The Mavin records signee stacks a hit-laden discography, writing on some of the biggest songs in recent years, including Grammy-nominated records such as Ayra Starr’s Rush, Davido’s For The Road and Godfather, respectively.
With his music listened to in over 184 countries, by at least 35 million people, according to Spotify, the lyrical juggernaut, who is also spotlighted as Spotify’s Songwriter of 2023, continues to trailblaze a new era for Afrobeats songwriters.
From finding a muse for Ayra’s Rush in a water shortage situation, to nitpicking song ideas from the innuendos of bystanders on the street, Mbryo harvests his ideas mostly from life. But the cherry on the cake manifests in his clever use of language, ear for melodies and unique range.
In a deep-dive with Guardian Music, the award-winning songwriter unpacks the behind-the-scenes experience of being a songwriter in today’s Afrobeats, reminiscing on his come-up journey, crafting his biggest hits, fighting creative blocks, and being the biggest fan of the street-pop legend Terry G, among others.
What is a typical day in your life like?
On a normal day, I would just wake up, do my exercises, do my morning devotion, and I just usually have loads of work to do. Either personal work or other personal gigs. I’m signed to Mavins as a songwriter so there is always something to do at everytime. So, I just go about my business basically.
Why are you a songwriter?
For me, there is always this incessant need to create something. There is always music playing in my head at any given time. There is always an idea or melody going on in my head and it’s always a pleasure to bring these melodies to life.
Did you always know it would be a career for you?
No, I didn’t know initially. I started off as a recording artiste way back. I was always good with writing my records. I didn’t have a problem creating my own records all the time. I started off my writing journey with poetry. I used to write poetry. I wrote my first book when I was 13. I never finished it, though. I was done with the fourth chapter, but I had some distractions. I started off writing poetry before I veered into music. I started even writing gospel music initially. So, the more I wrote the better I got. I always have the ideas and try to put it out in the most simple way, that is, being the most relatable that I can with the simplest words you can reach, with catchy melodies too. The more you do something, the better you get.
When did you sell your first song that you wrote?
It was in 2019, actually. I professionally started songwriting in 2019 and that was when I started seeing that this can become something.
How did you penetrate that songwriting market?
There was no marketplace for me. There is this guy that used to work with me back in 2018. He always spoke to me about doing Twitter trends for me. Sometimes, I wouldn’t have money to give him, but was really passionate about that. So, he did it for a longtime that I could see that I was gaining traffic with the work he was putting in. Some years after I left the record label I was in at that time, this same guy reached out to me. He told me he was working with Mavin Records and he wanted me to write some songs for the DNA Twins. He just suggested it like that. I knew writing had never been a problem for me and music was not actually working for me at the moment. So, it was like an opportunity for me to go in. I went to the Mavin Records office that day and we had a session and that was the ‘Kayama’ song on the last EP that the DNA Twins released via the label. It was a morale booster for me. Then, one of the A&R professionals in the record label called Vaedar reached out to me. He said they had a project coming up, and they wanted to unveil a new artiste. They sent some beats over and that was how ‘Bloody Samaritan’ by Ayra Starr and my journey with Mavin Records was born.
How do you hone your skill as a songwriter?
When I was starting off, I was active and just doing my stuff. I would always challenge myself. I can have a beat, for instance, and write a full song. And when I’m done with that song, I will just take it and write another song on that same beat, but with different melodies and different subjects. I can do like three or four songs on the same beat, so I kept doing that. At a point, it started feeling like it was easy; it started feeling like I had hacked it, because it’s like there is a procedure – storytelling, catchy melodies and music arrangements. There was a time for like four to five years, when I didn’t write anything, I was listening to songs and observing how they were structured. I wanted to know what made a song a hit song, and I did that for like five years. I was not listening to songs to be entertained; I was listening to songs to understand. If I listen to a hit song now, I try to figure out what elements of it made it a hit; I listen to the structure, I see where the chorus comes in, I see the introduction of the song, I see the first four lines. So, I’m at the point where it almost feels like I understand music.
Do you always pitch these songs to the artistes?
Pitching works. Then, sometimes, I have a personal relationship with the musician and if I think I have a record that will suit this guy, I just push it to the artiste. If they like it, we are good.
On an average, how many songs do you write in a month?
I don’t know. Sometimes, I do like 10 to 15 songs in a week.
So, if you’re doing this on a large scale, how do you typically cope mentally?
Well, sometimes, there are challenges, and even the best of us have writers’ block. Sometimes, you are stuck on an idea and you can’t just get beyond a certain level of that idea. And it can be infuriating for me; I’m a very passionate person and I don’t like to be stuck. So, whenever I’m stuck like that, all I do is I just break out of it by doing something else. I’m a gamer. I like to play FIFA a lot.
Sometimes, whenever I’m playing video games during a writer’s block, I just play any instrumental I wish to write to in the background; I don’t put my mind to it as I’m just all about the game I’m playing. And the ideas just start coming in; sometimes, it comes with the melodies, sometimes it comes with the lyrics, sometimes it just comes with a word and the idea for a song is built on that word.
Why are you called Mbryo?
I was waiting for that question. So, Mbryo is a name I put up in 2012. My English name is Maxwell. So, I had this fascination with the letter M; I liked that M can stand for music, and it can also stand for money, which I intend to make from music; M also stands for Maxwell, which is my name; And M stands for May, which is the month I was born in. So, the BRYO stands for ‘Build right your optimism.’ I’m of the influence that an optimistic person that goes about doing what he believes in will be a successful person. So, I feel like once you believe it you are halfway done. So, I was selling the optimistic idea, that is what my name represents: ‘musically building right your optimism.’
What’s your favourite place to pick your creative inspirations?
In the street, I like being in the midst of people you hear funny stuff. You hear crazy lambas. I hear random things that can just make sense to me. They might just have said it without it even making anything to them, but that might just be the missing piece I need for something.
Tell us about how you found a muse for a song that you wrote?
Let me tell you about Ayra Starr’s Rush. There was a situation in my house that day, and we were having water shortage issues. So, I think they were trying to fix our water pumping machine that day. I had to check from within the house to alert the plumbers when the water started flowing and all that. So, they were like “Is it flowing? e don dey rush?” And I responded with “E dey rush, e dey rush, e dey rush.” I just sang it off the top of my head like that and it now made some extra sense to me. I just got stuck on that line and kept thinking of how I can make a record out of this. And the rest is history.
How do you listen to music now in terms of influencing your writing process?
Yeah, I listen to all genres of music. I listen to all sorts of music. I listen to street-pop, but one of my favourite genres of music I listen to is country music. There is a lot of storytelling going on there. Country music is not a genre that is consistent on just lamba or relying on melodies. You have to tell tales, and you have to do so intelligently. So, that’s like one of my favourite places to go to.
What do you feel most Afrobeats songs are lacking and could improve upon, in terms of songwriting?
I feel it’s more about self development. We need to read more. We need to be more informed about our surroundings, and we need to be in touch with our reality; because most of the things I talk about are the things that we go through here, but in my own ways. They are the things any random guy can go through. I talk about love in the way that a random street guy can experience it and talk about it. By doing so, you have to be intelligent about it, know the right words to use so that it can be exported and still be appreciated locally. So, one of the major things I think we can improve upon is that aspect of self development.
If you were to advise other budding songwriters, what are the three steps that you think they need to take to develop their craft and become renowned for it?
As I said earlier, self development; read a lot more because the words you read will stick somewhere in your subconscious. Whenever you find yourself in a community space and you need to express yourself, you will hardly get stuck without words to use. However, you would not be able to do so if you don’t know what to say. Then, I would say it is key to have mentorship; you have to have people you look up to that will influence you positively in that chosen career path. Lastly, I would say discipline. It is always important in every endeavour. These are things I live by; it’s not about motivation but it is real life.
Speaking of mentorship, who are some of the songwriters you look up to currently?
I don’t really look up to anybody right now as regards to songwriting. I used to look up to a lot of people and they kind of shaped my songwriting. John Legend was one of them, then Lil Wayne. Wayne is a very crazy guy and I listen to every word he says, especially in the way he structures his words and the way he tells his stories. I used to listen to a lot of Eminem as well back in the days, how he can join a lot of small, small words so intelligently.
Were there any African songwriters that you admired?
No, I don’t think so. There was just one guy I really liked though when I was coming up. I really liked his charisma. I loved his approach to Nigerian music at that time, because it wasn’t even Afrobeats at that time. His name is Terry G. Anybody that knows me from a decade ago would know that I’m an ardent fan of Terry G. I finally got to work with him and told him this to his face. He has always been that one guy that inspired me when it came to writing Nigerian music.
Have you written for Terry G before?
No. I featured him in a song. We worked together. I have a song with him.
Lastly, what is next for you?
I intend to go into other forms of music as time goes on. I still intend to sing. . I don’t want the pressure of being an artiste anymore, but just for the fun of it, I might just put another record in the future. And have a space where I can develop other writers.
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