‘Ethos’ by Brymo and A-Q: Love, loss and trauma on wax.

For so long, the entire music landscape has been plagued with a number of ‘what if’ theories concerning collaborative projects between some of the top performing artists. What if Michael Jackson and Prince made a song? What if Kendrick Lamar and J Cole made an album? What if Wizkid and Davido made a song? The list goes on. For the first time in a while, the music gods have decided to smile upon us by giving us an unexpected joint album. This arrived in the form of the ‘Ethos’ album by Nigerian singer-songwriter Brymo and, rapper and music executive A-Q. Loosely translated, ‘Ethos’ has come to be known as the values that set men apart from each other. Rightly so, these two gentlemen did things differently from others with this project; from the cover artwork, production, subject matter, to rollout.

Already appearing on paper to be a top contender for album of the year, let’s scrutinize each song to arrive at a conclusion.

Track 1 starts off on quite a jolting note. It’s A-Q bouncing off flows on a beat made up of 808s, a pad and a repetitive electric guitar melody that later switches up to include other elements. The rapper takes time to reintroduce himself and give a glimpse into what this album has in store. From the onset, it is obvious this pairing is a perfect fix with the way Brymo’s vocals sync faultlessly with A-Q’s verses. ‘Won Dé’ is a great introduction to an album of this calibre.

‘Ni Temi’ is different. If there’s one thing that songs shows, it’s that; what Brymo did in 2011 on ‘Oleku’ was no fluke. Track 2 is one of those songs that carries a lot of lyrical content, but has a strong potential to be a hit single.

Hmm, ‘This Is War.’ Brymo and A-Q were literally fighting for their lives on this song. A-Q doesn’t mince words when stating this fact. Using the opening bar of the first verse, he goes, “people don’t need a real reason to hate/ but the reason they hate me, I’m living with grace.” The intermittent horn sounds give off a proper battlefield feeling to characterize the entire emotion of this particular song.

Track 4, ‘Timezones’ is a timely ‘skit’ for a record like this. Those lyrics of braggadocio from A-Q was needed. That’s what rappers do. Track 5 has a laid back approach with respect to production, but this is by far the most technical songwriting from A-Q on this record; going bonkers with the rhyme scheme on ‘Do You Ever Miss Me.’

‘Ifę Lakoja Ofin’ on the other hand has some wild lyrics. This track highlights the thin line between what is real and fake when it comes to love. It would definitely be uncomfortable to hear this but, love is wicked. ‘Baale House’ would have to stand as the lamentations of the average Nigerian citizen. This track serves as a foreground to all of Nigeria’s problems and crucial times in its pop culture.

‘Family first’ is undoubtedly A-Q’s most vulnerable song. 48 bars of a man bearing his heart out on wax. The rapper talks for the first time about his wavering relationship with his longtime collaborator and friend MI, then goes on to recount losses through death he’s had to deal with as well as some impending ones, high and low points in his career, loyalty to friendships, betrayal and responsibilities he’s had to shoulder as a man. Track 8 is the peak of this entire project, substantiating once more the perfection of this pairing. Being someone known for making vulnerable records, Brymo accentuates A-Q’s novel vulnerability so well. This song serves as the ideal segue into the next song.

On track 9, there’s a laser focused approach to the topic of loss through death and love. It’s quite ironic though, that on track 8, A-Q blatantly says growth comes with leaving one’s comfort zone, but here on ‘Stay,’ he’s lodging the idea of one not leaving. Interesting.

Coming to a head on this record is ‘All By Yourself.’ One can feel the hurt A-Q is dealing with, with the demise of BeatsbyJayy. And that soundbite of him at the end of the song? I’m not crying, you are.

This is incontrovertibly a record that would be etched in either artistes catalogue as their best project. Brymo and A-Q did so well to fully exhaust their thematic approach to this record, and share some of their trauma with the rest of the world.

Others choose to go to therapy, while others like Brymo and A-Q choose to go to the studio and create a masterpiece like this.

Listen to ‘Ethos’ by Brymo and A-Q on a music streaming platforms now.