US-based Nigerian music artist, Prezidor Ezemweghian Porbeni, known musically and professionally as PEP, an acronym that encompassed his name started music from a young age. When his career took flight in 2012, it was with a big promise that a big star was being born. But unceremoniously, he disappeared from the scene and wasn’t heard of again until 2013.

PEP surfaced again in 2013 with guns blazing with so much musical bounties, and yet with a lot more promises as an artist to watch. According to him, he was handy with many songs written by him while he was out of circulation.

In a chat with VANGUARD, the eclectic artist who could hold his own and comfortable with genres such as Hip-hop, Rap, Melodic Trap, Afrobeats/Reggae jams and RnB shares his music journey, vis-a-vis the travails and triumphs along the way.

“My journey into music started at a very young age. I was brought up in the church with my mother as the Bishop and sister singing in the choir, while I was in charge of the music ministry. That’s where I learned how to play the keyboard. In Junior high school I joined the school music band and learned how to play drums. In high-school I taught myself how to play guitar by watching YouTube. All 3 instruments I play I was self-taught. But I didn’t start writing music until 2012 when I was incarcerated. When I came back in 2013 I had written enough songs to make my first mixtape “PEP Rally” and I released it on SoundCloud and YouTube. So being a preacher’s kid really showed me my passion and love for music,” he said.

With his first musical effort in the form of “PEP Rally” mixtape, the stage was set for PEP to walk through and seize the moment to bring his career to full fruition but this was not to be.

“I had an unfortunate 6-year hiatus from 2016. I was incarcerated again and was musically dormant till 2022 when I released “BOP” in November. Since my return to music I’ve released 3 new songs this year, namely; “On A Wave”, “Buss It” and “Money On Me”. All 3 have received great reviews. I’ve been able to garner over 100k streams on Audiomack in 2 weeks of releasing “On A Wave” and “Buss It”. I’ve gone from having only 2 followers on Spotify to having 800 in just 4 months now. And I’ve been featured in several blog sites. I’ve written over 100 songs and only released about 10 percent officially, so I’m dropping a lot of music this year and a few projects. Stay tuned, we are just getting started, he stated.

PEP was born in Nigeria but grew up in Bronx in New York, United States of America where he is currently domiciled.

PEP released other singles before he went off the radar in 2016 and reappeared in 2022. some of the singles he released were “Morgan Freeman”, “Single”, “Rich By 30”, “Throw It” and “1st Place”

He is an independent artist, apparently doing relatively well on his own.