“I want people to understand my pain and my journey,” Christopher Uzoma Ikebunna—better known as Browny Pondis—tells Apple Music. “I have a deep, personal connection with these songs, and, through this, I’m trying to reach out to anyone who can relate.” The Nigerian singer-songwriter dreams of a better tomorrow across soaring ballads and redemptive anthems on debut EP OCTOBER FIRST—a sweet, five-track fulfillment of skills honed as a local freestyle hero in Lagos. “I was doing my thing back then,” he says. “I started in 2015, but the problem was I didn’t have my own sound, I sounded like Tekno or Wiz—so I started looking for something particular to me. And I had the idea to put out freestyles; each Friday, a new freestyle. Until I started to shaped my sound.” On warm Afrobeat flair spanning heartache (“SWEET”), wide-eyed romance (“BAMBILA”), and modern-day relationship struggles (“FOLLOW”), Browny’s rich, aching vocal carries a soothing quality that hits distinctly against the gravity of his songs. “This title is an honor to my father, who I lost five years ago,” he says. “We lost my mum when I was five, so I grew up with him, and he literally taught me everything I know. It was his birthday, October 1—but this project goes out to them both.” Below, Browny Pondis talks through his personal debut EP, track by track. “SWEET” “This is just pure expression. ‘AGAIN,’ my first song, came from a very deep part of me, and afterwards I was looking for a song that could similarly reflect my pain again. This song here, really and truly, I’m just asking God to take control, of my situation, but also the things going on in Nigeria. The first verse is about my life, how I lost my parents and everything that I’ve been through; the second verse is dedicated to everyone struggling in the country.” “SUGARCANE” (feat. Gemma Griffiths) “I was in a warm, loved-up mood for this song. I was feeling quite emotional at the time, which was weird—I’m not really on the lover-boy vibe too much, but I needed someone with me on the song, to help me express. So we invited Gemma, a really talented singer from Zimbabwe, to get on, and she did wonderfully.” “FOLLOW” “This was produced by [Nigerian producer] 106—and there’s nothing too serious about this, it’s just a vibe that I recorded at midnight, laying down some melodies. A lot of the time, all I need is a beat—once I have a good beat and I’m in the right state of mind, I can do wonders.” “BAMBILA” “I’ll be honest, I don’t know what ‘Bambila’ means, actually. I created it, because that’s what the melodies were saying to me. The word just came to me, and…it sounds nice. When anyone would ask me about it, I’d say: ‘Oh, don’t worry, it’s a girl’s name!’” “AGAIN” “I recorded a video of myself vibing to this song, posted it to my socials, and that’s where the story [of the EP] begun. I had my [current] team contact me soon after that, as soon as they saw it. I was working at a hotel in Lagos, trying to survive after the death of my father, when I wrote this song. I had an issue with a really rude customer one night; I was feeling down and frustrated, because of how he spoke to me—but mainly, at how much I wanted to quit and do music full time. That’s when this song came to me, as a freestyle, initially. I just hope this connects with the youths in the streets—not only doing music, but everyone that’s hustling and trying to make something of their lives.”