Phyno is arguably or not so arguably one of the most influential indigenous rappers in Nigeria. The Fada Fada crooner has thrilled so many hearts with his lyrical depth which is usually very rich with the Igbo language. This bio explores everything you need to know about this talented songwriter.
Phyno was Chibuzor Nelson Azubuike born on the 9th of October, 1986. He is the fourth out of five children born to his parents
To put it in a clearer perspective, Phyno was born just one year after a certain Major General Muhammadu Buhari was ousted as head of state. Phyno is 35 by the end of 2021. This should make him a young man or an old depending on how you view it.
Phyno would have been a pilot or a doctor
That’s right. The rapper’s childhood dream was to fly a plane. He equally revealed that at some point, he was advised to become a medical doctor instead. Perhaps, the genius of Phyno’s musical finesse wouldn’t have been as celebrated all over Africa and beyond as it is today if he had committed himself to several years of study to end up in a lab coat or a flight deck.
He was born and bred in Enugu State. He is a native of Anambra State, but Phyno has a soft spot for Enugu state as his fond childhood memories were all created there. He began his music career while he was still pursuing a diploma in Public Administration at the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), a polytechnic in Enugu State.
Phyno’s music career began in 2010.
He began earning from music as early as 2010, getting a number of gigs here and there before he relocated to Lagos. Two years later, he began working on his first studio album, No Guts No Glory. For a debut album, it was quite imposing to find that bigwigs got featured including Olamide, P-Square, Timaya, Flavour, Omawumi, MI, Ice Prince, Runtown, Mr. Raw amongst others.
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The album incorporated Nigerian Pidgin and Igbo language primarily. In 2015, Phyno and Olamide announced the release of a collaborative album titled “2 Kings”. In March 2019, Phyno made an announcement of the release of a third album titled, “Deal With It”. And in 2021, Phyno released a single, “Bia”.
The rapper’s stage name was coined out of the word, ‘Phenomenal’.
Does it make sense now? Phyno got his name from the word, “Phenomenal” and it was given to him by a friend of his from secondary school after his mastery of the drums and piano was discovered.
Phyno’s role model is Mr. Raw
In one of his interviews, Phyno revealed that he looks up to Mr. Raw, one of the pioneers of Igbo rap and Afrohighlife in Nigeria. He equally revealed that rapping in Igbo is a gesture of pure respect for his culture, people and heritage.
The lead single from his debut album won two awards.
On the 25th of September, 2012, Phyno released “Ghost Mode” as the lead single of his debut album with the assistance of Olamide. The single won The Headies Award (2012) and Nigeria Entertainment Awards (2013). His second single, “Man of the Year (Obago)” equally won Best Rap single at the 2012 The Headies Award.
Once he was asked, by Do2tun about people who try to pin him as an Igbo rapper, he said, “Anything you put your energy in drains you. That shouldn’t be my problem, but then again, it’s a box generally, trust me. It’s not something I should be feeling good about. I’m a musician, I’m a rapper doing what I know how to do best, how I want to do it.”
Phyno has hosted Africa’s biggest concert by an artiste
In 2015, Phyno began a concert which he named Phynofest and it took place at China Stadium in Onitsha, Anambra State for the first time. In 2016, Phyno decided to take the festival to Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu State, the city where it all began for him and there were a little over 30,000 people in attendance.
And in 2017, Phynofest had a record 50,000 people in attendance at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, and has remained the biggest concert ever hosted by an artiste in Africa. The concert was studded with guest appearances from big artistes including Yemi Alade, D’banj, Timaya, Zoro, Ycee, Flavour, Lil Kesh, Mayorkun, Runtown, Duncan Mighty, and others.
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