Phyno is renowned for rapping in the Igbo language. The name “Phyno” is coned from the word “Phenomenal” which his nickname was given to him by a friend back in secondary school because he always liked to stand out.
Early Life/Education
Chibuzor Nelson Azubuike aka Phyno was born on October 9, 1986 in Abakpa-Nike, Enugu state. He is the fourth of five children. He is from Anambra state, Nigeria.
Growing up in Enugu, he learnt to play the piano and drums while in secondary school. Phyno graduated from IMT (Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu) with a degree in Public Administration. He had initially wanted to be a pilot.
Career
He launched his career as a producer in 2003 while rapping on the sides, producing for the likes of Timaya, Flavour, Ruggedman, 2Shotz, Bracket, J Martins and Mr. Raw moving to Lagos in 2007 to increase his impact and in 2010, established his own record label “Penthauz Entertainment”.
In 2014, he released his debut album, ‘No Guts, No Glory’ with hit singles, Ghost Mode, Man of the Year, Alobam and Parcel. He featured artistes like Stormrex, Omawumi, Olamide, Efa, P-Square, Timaya, Flavour N’abania, Mr. Raw, M.I, Ice Prince and Runtown and this album was Phyno’s meteoric rise to fame. The only setback being that the video for Man of the Year was banned from being aired in September 2013 by the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation.
Phyno who sings and raps mostly in the Igbo language, in August 2014, became the Ambassador of Guinness Nigeria’s Made of Black campaign.
In April 2015, he released his second album in collaboration with Olamide titled, ‘2 kings’ with hit singles like ‘Oringo’, ‘Connect’, ‘Yayo’, ‘Asai’ and ‘Nnunu’ featuring Stormrex. In 2016, he released his third album, ‘The Playmaker’ with hit singles like ‘Fada Fada’, ‘a Ghetto Gospel’ and ‘Testimony’.
Since the arrival on the music scene, Phyno has been nominated several times including the 2015 Best Hip-hop at the MTV Africa Music Awards and has performed at events which include-
Star Music Trek, Owerri in June 2013, He toured with D’banj, Burna Boy, Chidinma, Vector, Pucado, Seyi Shay, Show Dem Camp, Kay Switch and Sean Tizzle, as supporting act on the Hennessy Artistry 2013 Club Tour and in April 2014, performed at the 2014 edition of the Star Music Trek tour in Nsukka, Enugu State.
He told the Nigerian Tribune that he raps in Igbo because he respects his culture and loves being himself. Although he primarily raps in Igbo, he combines a bit of Nigerian Pidgin and English in his music. Phyno believes that the elements of music make it borderless.
Songs
- “Oringo”
- “Yayo”
- “Connect “
- “Asai”
- “Got it in my Vein” (featuring De Boss and RunTown)
- “Nnunu” (featuring Stormrex)
- “Ezege”[27]
- “Man of the Year”
- “Alobam”
- “Street (Kush) Muzik”
- “Connect”
- “Fada Fada (Ghetto Gospel)”
- “E Sure For Me”
- “So Far So Good”
- “Isi Ego”
- “Link Up” (featuring M.I. and Burna Boy)
- “Augment”(featuring olamide)
- “Mmili (Freestyle)”(featuring DJ Enimoney)
- “Mkpotu” (featuring Zoro and Tidinz)
- “One Chance” (featuring Kranium)
- “No Be My Style” (featuring Burna Boy)
- “Okpeke” (featuring 2Baba and Flavour)
- “Onyeoma” (featuring Olamide)
- “NWA” (featuring Wale)
- “IWA” (featuring Tekno)
- “Fuwa Sewa” (2018)
- “Agu” (2019)
Video
Studio albums
- No Guts No Glory (2014)
- The Playmaker (2016)
- Deal With It (2019)
Very recently, Phyno shared on his social media page that his new album is underway. See below:
Collaborative albums
- 2 Kings (2015) (with Olamide)
Awards
- 2012 Best Collaboration of the Year alongside Olamide at the Nigeria Entertainment Awards
- 2013 Best Rap Single at the Headies Awards
- 2013 Best Collabo award at the Headies Awards
- 2013 Best Rap Artiste of the Year at the City People Entertainment Awards.
- 2014 Best Rap Act of the Year, Rap Artiste of the Year and Rap Album of the Year at the City People Entertainment Awards.
- 2014 Most Gifted Hip-hop act at the Channel O Music Video Awards
- 2017 Indigenous Artist of the Year at the Nigeria Entertainment Awards
- 2018 Creative Artist of the year at the Sun Awards
Major Controversy
In 2017, American singer, Pia Mia released a strikingly similar version, months after that of the Nigerian rap artist was released off his album ‘The Playmaker’. Channels TV reported.
Amid the situation, Producer, Decarlo, came out to state that he wrote the original demo of the song and that he only authorised the version released by the American singer although he admitted that he offered the song to both Pia Mia and Phyno.
“I wrote the original demo of ‘I Am A Fan’ and pitched it to various artists. I worked with Pia Mia and Jeremih on the track, and their song is the only version authorized,” he said.
Phyno, however, took to twitter where he shared screenshots of a WhatsApp conversation between himself and Decarlo.
This is the last time I will ever talk Abt this!!! But jst for the record !!! pic.twitter.com/x1R6WY4cH8
— EZEGE 1 (@phynofino) June 12, 2017
He said it would be the last time He would react to the controversy. Meanwhile, Singer, Mr Eazi, with whom Phyno recorded the song also attested that contrary to Decarlo’s claims, he had literally begged them to use the track.
“That night in the studio man like @iAMDECARLO sent @phynofino like 15 records begging us to use em and please keep his vocals,” he tweeted.
https://twitter.com/mreazi/status/874578848314253312
Phyno was rumored to have impregnated a woman, Rita Edmond in 2014. He denied the allegations.
In early January 2014, BellaNaija revealed that the rising singer is with a child for the “Ghost Mode” rapper.
Phyno denied the claims in an interview with Punch Newspaper. Reporters at Punch also contacted Rita for an answer but she was quite evasive, only stating that she is in love with a rapper whose name she didn’t reveal.
In an interview with Hip TV, Rita says she hasn’t met Phyno and isn’t having his child. She also says she isn’t pregnant at all.
“I’m not pregnant for Phyno and I am not his girlfriend, I have nothing whatsoever to do with Phyno. I don’t even know him one-on-one and I am not pregnant for any man at all”, she said.
Why is Rita claiming she isn’t pregnant at all when she insinuated that she was in the interview with Punch. It is obvious it was a publicity stunt that Rita probably had something to do with.
Watch the video below:
https://youtu.be/Do9Q-0GQLG0
Personal Life
We did some findings to discover certain things about his family.
First of all, he is from the southeastern part of Nigeria. Anambra state precisely. But he was born and raised in Enugu state and even attended primary, secondary and higher institution in Enugu.
Meanwhile, Phyno now lives in Lagos. The sole reason he moved to Lagos was to pursue a career in music.
He nursed the dream of becoming a pilot but fate had other plans for him.
Family
Chibuzor Nelson Azubuike popularly known as Phyno seems to be notoriously cautious in revealing details about his private life.
Parents
Phyno’s parents are Mr & Mrs Azubuike. Much details about them are not public. However, Phyno once shared a picture of himself and his mother.
The only thing Phyno has ever said about his father is how he didn’t approve of his decision to become an artist.
He said in an interview: “I am happy for how far I have come. My father never wanted me to become an artist because he felt it wasn’t a good profession. But I decided to stick to my guns and I have proved that one can also have a good life with music.
Now, people call me to mentor their children and that couldn’t have happened years ago. Nigerian music has gone global and the future looks even brighter.”
Siblings
He’s the fourth child out of five children. In other words, he has 4 siblings.
For now, the only information we have regarding his siblings is from the photos he shared.
Phyno appears to share a strong bond with his family members.
From the pictures above, we can only see one of his brothers and one of his sisters.
In fact, we do not have any information regarding their names.
Wife
Phyno is currently unmarried; however, he revealed in an interview that he is single and ready to mingle.
We do hope to see him work down the isles soon enough.
Children
People do not really need to marry to father children. As a result, a lot of people have been asking if Phyno has any children.
The fact is, for now, the Igbo-rapper has no children. As soon as we hear of anything, this post shall be updated to include recent developments.
Net Worth?
Phyno is one of the Nigerian celebrities with the most endorsement deals. He makes money from his music and from his multiple investments.
According to justnaijabase, Phyno’s net worth is estimated at over 4 million dollars. In the course of his rap career, Phyno has also signed many deals with multi-million companies including sports betting company Nairabet.
He is a brand ambassador for Airtel Telecommunications, TomTom, Monster among other brands.
Social Media
Instagram: @phynofino
Twitter: @phynofino