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The imperfect collaboration between these two singers is all Nigeria needs right now

The world needs this beautiful imperfection. Brymo and Asa need to be merchants and dealers of a joint music project. We will all be willing slaves.

When I left Asa’s concert on Saturday, April 29, 2017, I thought I had seen it all.  But I was wrong.

Asa, backed by her band and a Lagos based 30-piece orchestra named Vesta Violins, had provided one of the best concert experiences of my life. At the end of those heavenly 3 hours at Eko Hotel & Suites, she had given me a seemingly unassailable feeling and enjoyment of live music than I could ever possibly hope for.

It was emotional and magical, and I wanted none other. And that was because I thought that no other performer can take me to those heights again.

But I was wrong. Barely over 24 hours later, I found myself at Freedom Park, experiencing all of those feelings Asa had given me. This time there was no Asa and her host of instrumentalists. There were no fancy and grand arrangements on the show, neither was the lighting half as good.

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But there was Brymo, and he alone could give me exactly the feeling I got from watching Asa perform a few hours earlier. The singer was holding the second edition of his ‘Organized Chaos’ concert; an open-air event where he would regale the fans with live performances of his music.

And trust me, it was a magical experience, the type that I could refer to as heavenly. It was just like Asa all over again. But this time, it was Brymo who made these feelings creep out again and consume me.

Unlike buying a computer, paying for an Asa or Brymo concert means buying a ticket to an emotional experience. Whether it's the supreme classy turn up of the Eko Hotel venue or the emotional and historic transcendence of Freedom Park, you're paying to feel something fundamentally intangible.

And that product is delivered. All you feel is joy, happiness, and the feeling that the music art is purposeful, and bigger than all of us. A sacred circle of trust was established in those venues, where the audience lifts up the artist and got to be lifted up in return, and so the promise of entertainment was not broken.

But why did both acts provide the same exact feeling, equipped with different levels of assistance and grandeur?

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The answer is in the level of the music and the quality of the performance. Asa and Brymo match up to each other musically. On a strictly music sense, they both have projects that equal each other in melody, skill, delivery and substance. If they ever had a competition, and Asa drops her “Asa” album into the ring, Brymo only has to grab his “Merchants, Dealers, & Slaves,” to present an equal and opposite body of work. For every single such as ‘Fire on the mountain’, there’s a ‘Down’. For ‘Jailer’, there’s ‘Eko’.

Everything matches up in quality. Everything is the same. Nothing is lost, bigger or better between their arts. They operate at an exclusive level, where only the best of performers and recording artists can thrive.

The only difference between both artists is in the details of their styles and how they contrast. Asa and Brymo thematically embrace love, tribulations of the human experience, emotional documentation and self-reflection via intense imagery and vivid story-telling. But what differs is their approach to music making.

Asa makes music from a pure heart. One that is at the mercy of the world, bleeding at every turn. She truly cares for others and the world around her. And her music is meant to brighten her little corner.

When she delves into human love, she is both philosophical and sensual, painting pictures of happy endings and emotional fulfilments. At times, she embodies feminism, and the struggle for female emancipation and empowerment, weaving it into the rich tapestry of her art.

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Brymo on the other hand brings his music from a dark place. His current sound came from the agitations of his soul, which was struggling for the survival of his art after he rebelled against Chocolate City in 2013.

And so, it comes from a place of pain, suffering and emotional dissatisfaction. He is a twisted man, who sees the world like one big giant scam. That’s why he is always on his toes, dreaming big, chasing shadows, finding darkness at every corner, but still believing in himself.

He doesn’t care about the next guy. He is a selfish man, who only seeks to improve his surroundings because he will benefit from it. And when he approaches love, he attacks it with sexual vulgarity, mostly seeking to connect via physical pleasures and carnal knowledge. His satisfied and stimulated flesh is the gateway to his heart.

Marrying Asa and Brymo will make an imperfect union. Brymo, the dark twisted man with a raw sexual panache musically weds Asa, the triggered, deeply emotional, feminist who embraces love from a pristine perspective, irrespective of how hurt and vulnerable it makes her become.

The core meeting point between both artists will be the quality of their talent, and the documentation of their sorrows. Asa and Brymo both wear their sorrows and scars with pride. They roll in it, create rooms for it, and explore it musically to a point where they become one with it. They are pleasant pathetic feelers, who make art with their pain.

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Listen to Brymo’s ‘Purple Jar’ and Asa’s ‘The one that never comes’. They are two sides of a coin. Asa and Brymo can marry themselves musically. Although it will be imperfect, it will be intriguing and satisfying to listen.

The musical marriage between Asa and Brymo will be an imperfect perfection. Imperfect due to the creative differences, but the quality of the music will breed perfection. From this push and pull, a balance will be created.

Only one producer can marry them – Cobhams Asuquo. He is the only man who can harness their differences and similarities to create a body of work that has all of what they can offer in one wholesome project.

Asa and Brymo need to collaborate for a joint body of work. It is not in their place to say no. They exist on a musical plane that breeds greatness. And it so happens that they are alive at the same time and space, musically. This coincidence can only be divine, a grand design by the cosmic forces that dictate music and all things art.

Nigeria needs this. The world needs this beautiful imperfection. Brymo and Asa need to be merchants and dealers of a joint music project. We will all be willing slaves.

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