For some artists, it takes a while to discover their musical path, and hence do not attain their full artistic potential until they’re past their prime. Most discover their path, working their 9 to 5 jobs and divert to their creative path. Others, although already in the creative space, take risks and dip their feet in different artistic paths to showcase their versatility and their artistry. The majority of these artists mostly branch into the music space to tell the world their stories and how they fit into its dynamic. There are soulful artists such as Braye, who are fortunate however to set sights on their musical paths from a very young age. These decisions are often influenced by their surroundings, and things that they consume as pre-pubescent adolescents and therefore map out their journey, building towards it, leaving little artistic traces and footprints that they can always come back to. These artists tell stories of how they see the world through their experiences and of people close or far away. They absorb these experiences and craft beautiful stories; stories that give hope, love, peace, and serenity to everyone that listens to it.
Born in Port Harcourt and spending most of his early years and adolescence between Port Harcourt and Accra, Braye always knew he would be a great superstar from the age of 13. From writing rap lyrics on the back of his notebook to releasing his debut single, Braye has always had a vision of what his artistry would be like. An artistry that is an honest reflection of the artist; musical storytelling rooted in truth, love, and hope. He has set his mind to leave a lasting legacy; a legacy filled with beautiful and truthful stories and timeless records that would still be relevant in a thousand years.
Speaking to iMullar, Braye talks to Frederick Adjavon about his background, sound, his musical goal and debut single, “Painless Melody“.
This interview has been slightly edited for length and clarity.
Can you tell us a bit about your background and your history?
I was born and raised in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. That’s the South River State. I studied in Accra at Regent University for four years, and I loved my experience there. Most of what I do now, like the music, stems from my experience through my teenage years in Port Harcourt, and also much of it was from my time in Accra because I spent a lot of time studying, listening to music, and preparing for what I wanted to do. I’ve been in Lagos for like two years now, but mostly my background or cultural standings are from Port Harcourt and then Accra. I’ve spent more time in Accra than I’ve spent in Lagos.
Growing up in Port Harcourt, what were some of your musical influences?
I feel like everyone sang when they were kids. I sang in the church when I was a kid, but I didn’t join the choir. I was in the children’s choir, but I didn’t join the adult choir. I was mostly just listening to music and singing in my room. I listened to a lot of different music from Nigeria to America. People like Ray Charles, and Stevie Wonder. I started listening to Stevie Wonder about three years ago, but I had been listening to Ray Charles for quite a while and Sam Cooke, Sammy Davis, and modern artists like Anderson Paak, Bruno Mars, Adele, and Amy Winehouse. I listened to a lot of Reggae music, like Bob Marley. When I was in Ghana, Reggae music was big. I remember my favorite Ghana song was Samini and Sarkodie‘s “Love Rocks”. I love that song. It’s a mix of modern Pop, Soul music, and Jazz. My favorite is Reggae. I love Reggae. I love Samini’s voice.
What is it about soul and jazz and reggae that makes you excited?
I don’t know. Maybe it’s from my childhood. My dad used to play a lot of Reggae and Country music. I grew up listening to my dad’s music because that was the only access to music until I had my phone and started putting my own music on my phone. It was Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff and many more. When I listened to music later on in my life and was exploring music myself, I always kind of compared whatever I listened to to what my dad played and I veered towards that mostly. I still listen to modern stuff and I’m still influenced by other people’s tastes but it was mostly what I grew up listening to that became most of my playlists.
What inspired your move towards being a musician? What was the moment in your life that made you aspire to be a professional artist?
It’s a lot of things to be honest, because you grow from phase to phase. When I was 13, I wrote music in class. I wrote on the back of my school notes when the teacher was teaching. I liked writing punchlines and rap verses in class. I got to Accra when I was 15. I wasn’t even 16 yet when I started university. At a young age, I felt I was going to be a star by the time I was 18 or 19, but the older I got, the more I asked myself, what do I want to do? My answer to that question always changed and evolved. Now I’m 26 and it’s a totally different answer from when I was 15. When I was 15, I enjoyed writing music. I thought that the most special thing about me was that I could make songs. I knew not everyone could do that. So I just kind of honed in on that. After school in Accra, I went to Tema. Joey Lit was my classmate. I used to share my rap recordings, and he liked them. After school, he took me to Ground Up Studios. When I was there, I was trying to record, but it wasn’t going well for me. I was sleeping in the studio because my rent had expired and my dad told me the only money he had for me was my transportation back home. I was determined to stay and do music, but I didn’t like the way I was living because I was sleeping in the studio. No one knew me there and it was just somehow. I had to go back to Nigeria. That was around 2018, I think. I always asked myself why it was important to me to do all these, and the more I answered that question, the more my conviction for what I was doing got stronger.
When I was in Ground Up, I met Kwesi Arthur. I also met Kayso. I think I made a song with Kayso, but it never saw the light of day. I don’t even know if it still exists. Ground Up used to do videos of different artists that sang and they would post it on YouTube. There was one time I did a cover on Shatta Wale’s Gringo and they made a video of me at Ground Up, but I don’t know if that video still exists.
Before we get into your debut song, I want you to describe your sound. What is Braye’s sound?
I feel like if you’re making music, you have to make music from your understanding of what life is. What do you think the world and the universe are? Is it largely positive or negative? You tell stories about what you see. I think that contributes to how my sound comes about. I want to make and tell stories of people. The sound is inspired by most of the music that I’ve listened to from the artists I listed earlier. Their sound was created to keep you entertained and at the same time, give you some value. I’m always looking to achieve that. I don’t have a real description of my sound. I just always try to inspire people with what I make and get better because I’m also learning instruments. I’m learning to play trumpets now. I can play the guitar to some extent. Keys as well. I’m evolving all the time. I picked up trumpets through listening to Hugh Masekela, and Freddie Hubbard and I didn’t know them five years ago. I discovered them and I liked what they were doing, so I decided to try it out. That was the same way I decided to sing from rapping, evolving to singing to listening to Ray Charles and all these people. It’s the same way I picked up trumpets, guitar, keys, bass, and all the other stuff. I like to follow my interests, tastes, and instincts. I allow myself to evolve, learn, and practice because it’s a skill. People have 9-5 jobs that they do and get paid for, so as a musician, you also have to work just as much as or even more than people working 9- 5 jobs. I’m always creating towards that rather than having a particular sound but if you ask me to describe my sound, I feel it’s easier for me to tell you the people that inspire me. People like Amy Winehouse, Chronixx, Wizkid, and Burna Boy. Mac Miller is a big influence as well. Kendrick Lamar, J Cole, The Game, because I did make a lot of rap songs before I started writing songs.
The guitar was very prominent in your debut single. How was it important for you to show the world that you were an instrumentalist as well?
I didn’t produce any of “Painless Melody”. I was working with Duke in January and we had to make a couple of songs in two weeks. We had our own small company of artists and producers and we made about five songs with “Painless Melody” being the last one. They played me a beat they made for Tems that she didn’t use. I liked it when I heard it and I immediately had a melody for it. I can’t remember how I made it, but I remember going to the kitchen with what I’d recorded. I was writing there while they were in the dining room. We had turned our dining room into a studio. We were in Ghana when I made “Painless Melody”. I got the first verse and the chorus in 30 minutes and recorded it. I was leaving for Lagos the next day. On my ride to the airport and to the house, I was still recording the rest of “Painless Melody”. We kind of made it in two days, rushed through the song and tried to finish that one. Hearing the guitar sound as an instrumental, especially the harmonies, the melodies, and the arrangement, was what attracted me to that instrumental. We made it and then added more stuff to it, like the trumpets and the horns. I love instruments because you can make a lot of sounds. Music is tones, rhythm, harmonies, chords, lyrics, arrangement, and compositions. That’s what music is when you get down to it.
Why the title, “Painless Melody”? What’s the message behind it?
I always say to my management that music has a real power in it. Because of the superficial way of seeing music as a business, we tend to not have the patience to appreciate the power and impact that music can have most times. I tried to make a song where I’m talking about that belief in music. To change the atmosphere and the aura of the place and make it feel more welcoming. To welcome me into the world and welcome people to be together. “Painless Melody” is just saying there’s so much going on in the world but music has this power, and there’s a reason why good music feels the way it does to us.
What’s the message behind “Painless Melody”?
At the point that I am at right now, I believe there’s always hope for love; To feel loved and feel love. That’s what I try to put in my songs most of the time. The song can be about loneliness, but there will always be a point where there’s desire. Where you are and where you desire to be, and you can tell a story about where you are, which can be a lonely, low place. For me, life is just really everything we have experienced. Our experiences are just all stories. From reading so much good fiction, I learned the importance of stories. When I’m making songs, it’s always coming from a place of what I think about the world. That’s what entertainment is really about. People connect to what they feel is true and that entertains and grabs their interest. I just try to be honest, but I don’t always make my songs say a particular thing. I say what is true to me. When I write the first line, does that sound true to me? Then I repeat the process for the second, third, and subsequent lines. That’s how I make the whole song. The central truth of what I’m doing in my life is that there’s always hope for love and that things can always be better as long as we’re alive.
You did a song with Duke early this year. “Nothing Like I Feel”. Was it your way of testing the waters before releasing your own music?
I wouldn’t say it was for that because when I made the song. I made it in my room. I played it on my piano, and just wrote the first line. Then I got the chords. When David and Duke came to Lagos, they invited me to their Airbnb. I went there and we just started working on some stuff. I asked to show them the stuff that I wrote and I played it on the small keyboard they came with. They were interested in the song and then we just started working on it. We’ve had the song since last year and we’d just been going back and forth on it. Changing and re-recording some things so before we even got to Ghana in January, we had finished the song. We then ended up releasing it in June.
Looking at your sound and the landscape of the African music scene, who would you like to collaborate with?
There are many amazing artists in Nigeria and Ghana. Artists that I listen to such as Burna Boy, Wizkid, and Tems that I think it’d be great to be on a song with but I like to make music from a place mostly of fate and ideas and I’m always currently experimenting. I don’t know all the artists in Africa. I know there are some of them that I would find and would like to work and write with. I’m just starting my journey, and I would be glad to make music with any of these choices. I don’t have a specific group of people that I want to work with to be honest. I was writing with no intention of making any music so I’m used to going through that process alone. How I work with Duke was, we just met and we just started making stuff. That’s how it always happens. I didn’t know who Duke was. They didn’t have a song out and I’ve been in their sessions where they were producing for other people. When they like my stuff and I also like their stuff, we come together and create it. I met this Portuguese producer who makes Bossa Nova sounds. I found his beats on YouTube and I made five songs on them and sent him two of them. He loved them. He asked me to record them and he’ll do the mixing and mastering. We linked up. My manager also linked up with him and they’re friends now. I like to pursue my taste and when I meet people that I like, I just connect and start working with them. We make what we love because music has a power and I try to always tap into that. It’s synergy. When you’re experimenting, you never know what you can find and that’s what is the most exciting part of it.
Why Badger? How do you relate to the badger?
That honey badger is kind of descriptive of me and I think it’s because I was very young and small. When I was in university, I was 15, and other people were much bigger than me and also my size didn’t help. I tried to pretend like I was 18, but people could see from my size and even the sound of my voice that I was very young. I didn’t have a lot of friends or a lot of people that would hang out with me so I just became a one-man-mopo and just looked out for myself. I was always alone, eating and listening to music. I didn’t get the chance to speak to people that much, because there was always a headphone in my head. I found out about the animal, the honey badger, and how it didn’t move in packs. They found their own way to survive and not be scared. The honey badger kind of knows that it’ll still die anyway so it chooses not to be a coward. I did a little research about honey badgers and I found out that they are very creative with problem-solving. I related to that a lot and that was why I just called myself the badger.
What are your plans for the future?
I want to do the same things that I’ve been doing for the past two years, which is continue to practice, compose songs that I like, travel, and see the world. Just the same way I was even before making “Painless Melody”. I am going to focus on doing this thing because if I have other plans, it’s going to come along the way. If anything comes up, then I will just figure it out. Little steps until I get better and evolve. No rush. As long as I have the space and the time to do this thing, I’m happy. I’m not just making music for the people of today, I’m making music for people that will come after my death. People a hundred years from now will probably be listening to my music. So I ask myself, what is true to me? If it’s true, the posterity that comes at that time would relate to it.
Making timeless music and leaving a legacy.
It’s not something you write down. It’s really detailed and very complex, but it’s just your feelings because music is feeling. You just have to have some instincts and intuition also is part of that.
Do you have any final words for whoever is reading, whoever is listening to you?
Follow your curiosity and follow the things that interest you, even just a little bit. Follow the questions that you don’t have the answers for. You don’t have to get a definitive answer for everything. Sometimes the answer is not meant to come now. Sometimes it’s meant to come in the future, but as long as you’re curious, follow your curiosities and learn. Allow yourself to be inspired by people. You don’t necessarily have to copy them. At the end of the day, once you build value in yourself and you create a valuable thing, there will be opportunities that will come your way from different places. To some extent, it’s manifesting, but you always just keep going and growing. You never really know what’s going to happen next. You just keep faith in what you believe and keep trying.
