Amid discourse over the scarcity of talented artistes in Nigeria to carry on the legacy and future of Afrobeats, the world has given us fast-growing singer and songwriter, Isreal Lagbokun Olawale, professionally known as Bims. 

Raised by Christian parents and chosen by music, Bims’ love for the art was ignited after his father, who was a choir master in their local church, hired someone to teach him how to play the piano. It was at that point music became a full-fledged life-time ambition for the singer.

While in secondary school, destiny further charted Bims’ course by providing the strangest circumstances for a budding talent. Born in Lagos but hails from Ondo State, the first child of three boys literally started his music career at O’level and has since grown to become one who would conquer the global entertainment space in a few years with his Afrofusion kind of music.

“I will say music chose me because I was born into a choir family whereby my father was a choir member and my two brothers were also in choir. Although I wasn’t really into the church thing like that, I was just there. However in my second year in secondary school, that was JSS2, I started writing songs,” Bims revealed in an interview.

“That was because my school used to do a lot of events that encouraged us to showcase our talent back then. In JSS2 there was a group that came up to sing on stage and I felt like I could do better than them, so it prompted me to create my own group for the next event. So when the opportunity later came out, we performed and people liked it and the response was that we were so good, so since then I kept on doing my thing till now.

“I was always around music. My dad employed a teacher to teach me how to play keyboard. He made sure I was in the music space. So in my secondary school, music began to reflect on me as a career because I started making money from music. Since JSS3, people called me to perform in their class party. The first time they gave me money I was like oh so you can actually make money from something you love doing? And it made me do a lot of musical activities like rap battles, and music challenges etc. 

“I thought someone gave me money from a performance, I liked it, and I started monetizing my music performance,  especially in SSS 1. I was always there to make the small event look like a big concert because of the vibes and energy. I used to bring some of my guys that are musically inclined or can play instruments to work along with me. And it just made the thing very interesting and I’ve been making money from music since then till now.”

Bims’ gift to his fans early this year was an Extensive Play (EP), which according to him, is a reflection of the present stage in his music career. Signed to Triple Treat record label in 2023, the EP titled ‘Don Pablo’, has again spotlighted him as one to watch for the future.

“I am this kind of person that when I start something, I will make sure I finish it successfully, I like being at the top, like the best. I get the result irrespective of the ups and downs and the result are coming in because I have a new EP this year titled ‘Don Pablo’. I am still breaking out as people are beginning to know me through some of my music that are trending, like ‘ Dey play’, Amapiano and Lamba. As young artists, we are trying to fight for space in the music industry and the cost of production is on the high side,” he said.

Speaking on his long term goals, Bims’ dream transcends the wishes of many of his contemporaries. The ambition of this music act is to take the baton from the likes of Davido, Burna Boy and Wizkid.

“As for my long term goals, I see myself being among the big names in the music industry in the world because I love the idea of making people abroad see the  beauty of African sounds. The likes of Wizkid, Burna boy, and Davido have done the work, but we are here to do the continuity. I see myself performing on big stages across the globe and also receiving international awards and honours,” Bims concluded.