Bemyoda – Shima Yam

With this new age of “Club Banging Naija Music” better disguised as “Afro-Pop”, Soul music has been hard to come by. On “Shima Yam” though, Bemyoda brings that soulful sound back and ah, dare I say, it’s so soothing to listen to, it just calms you down as you listen. I personally like this one. Share your thoughts people.

“For as much as emerging Nigerian Soul artist BEMYODA – real name Bem Iordaah – is a brilliantly creativesongwriter, he is an equally amazingly beautiful singer. He does not presentyou with music that is the norm because for Bemyoda, every line of a song is the summary of a deeper meaningand every phrase explains a concept larger than that phrase. According to Bemyoda, music is first an expressionof its creator and who they are, it has to be…
Born in Benue state to musicallyinclined parents (his father was a member of the Church choir), Bemyoda’s musicalinfluences range from the likes of IndiaArie to Tracy Chapman to Jill Scott to Dwele amongst others while he professes a great and profoundrespect and appreciation for Nigerian artists such as Asa and Nneka – twoartists who defy the usual to do what their hearts say.
Honing his singing talents fromas early as 5 years of age, Bemyodapicked up writing a few years later at just 14, first in the form of articlesthat won essay competitions for his secondary school and then by way of songsthat were only sung in quiet places and for his ears only. As he grew older,some of his inhibitions were stripped away and he would later go on to pen songsthat would become signature staples for his university choir (Federal University of Technology Minna)and easy favourites in concerts and among listeners.
Fast forward to 2012 and after anexcellent but bit-part feature on Phishaman’s“God Is on Her Remix” from last year as well as a finalist position atChimamanda’s Creative Writing workshop in Lagos a year before, Bemyoda is finally ready to come of ageas one of Africa’s foremost new Soul artists – the first taste of which is thesublime sounding Soulful opus “Shima Yam”
“When you listen to my music, do this one thing – listen. My words willpaint you pictures – visualiaze.” – Bemyoda