For Lagos-born, Bermondsey-raised lyricist Flohio, executing projects or songs half-heartedly is something that she simply refuses to do in her career. In fact, her inaugural 2018 release âWild Youtâ EP served as something of spiritual-awakening. âBeing a wild yout was about bringing 100% to the table, it had to be magical,â she tells NME. âI had to be in beast-mode and I gave every single bit of my energy doing it.â
The project birthed a transcendent rapper, unrestrained by genre or labels. âMy first tape was like a party, but one where youâre going away with something, my listeners are saved after listening.â From the frantic introduction âBop Thruâ and its cinematic, trap and hip-hop infused production to the braggadocious title-track, Flohio quickly became one of the most exciting acts in the UKâs underground scene. Soon after, she landed a spot in the on the NME 100 in 2019.
Battling through the pandemic, Flohio has remained tunnel-visioned while crafting her follow-up âNo Panic No Painâ, which sheds even more of her skin for listeners across its ten songs. âThereâs more to Flo â Iâm unveiling pieces of me on this release. Iâm evolving.â Led by its title-track number she builds on the momentum, acting every bit the renegade across the anthemic single. âI can’t complain / No panic, no pain,â she raps across super-producer duo TakeADaytripâs backing.
The joy of embracing music came from an early age. As a child, Funmi Ohiosumah drew inspiration from music videos sheâd watch on the TV â she constantly references grime, pop, hip-hop and R&B as genres that she particularly took an interest in. âIâd be there from start to finish, watching like 32 videos back to back.â Estelleâs âAmerican Boyâ as one of her favourites â “when music videos like that came on, Iâd be glued to the television.â
Gaining access to the internet during the latter years of her childhood led her to a fixation with Lil Wayne also became a constant fixation. âItâs his humour and wit and how clever he was able to be. Heâs out of this world, he didnât even try too hard,â she says. âHeâs a mutant, a weirdo and I love that about him.â After her first performance at Salmon Youth Centre as a teen, where she received harsh feedback from the music mentors at the time â she ran home to study Lil Wayne videos, emulating his style and mannerisms on her next run. âHis energy is just off the charts, thatâs what I was able to really take from him,â she says.
But it was over a decade later, in recent years, that Flohio finally found her voice, channeling her distinct offering and learning to trust herself. âIâd say that Iâm really coming into my own now. Before âWild Youtâ I was just writing, I donât really know. I think I was growing up and finding the best way of creating music for myself.â
Flohio shares that one of the lessons she discovered while cultivating her sound was that she enjoyed making music alone â âI just have to be in my own head.â Despite making headway with the unorthodox, 808-heavy âBandsâ she insists that â10 More Roundsâ is her first official single. âI had to give everyone the full package. When I canât get a song out of my head thatâs when I know itâs ready. â10 More Roundsâ is me saying ‘lets fucking go’. Itâs powerful.â
The latter Cadenza-produced single arrived that summer and with its ominous-piano led foundations, Flohio pounces across the production, turning the number into her playground. âI give them more / Never less / Bring my fist up to my chest,â she boasts. An abundance of thrill fills the songs three minutes and eighteen seconds making it instantly infectious. As it stands, itâs one of her most popular singles on streaming platforms, nearing a million streams on Spotify. âWorking with Cadenza is always a good time, he knows how to work with me,â she says.

“Electro-rap is where I want to go next â I have such a powerful voice, I need to exercise it more”
Releases like â10 More Bandsâ and âRoundsâ emphasise Flohioâs robust appeal, and itâs this quality that she brought to collaborations with Mahalia and The Streets last year, particularly on the latter’s âHow Long Itâs Beenâ, she adds zest to the piano-led alt-hip-hop leaning release. On Flohio, Mike Skinner was quick to point out her âunpredictableâ approach to the song, which he found refreshing.
New mixtape âNo Panic No Painâ ushers in an even more unhinged Flohio exploring her evolution and experimentation further. The strongest example of this is on âActiveâ where she leans into her Nigerian ancestry. Produced by Genio Bambino (Cruel Santino), the alteÌ, hip-hop crossover is ambient, with familiar British/American slang (like âtapped in’‘), helping to bridge the gap. âI wanted to create something that represented me in Lagos, I tried to go Afro in my own way, I wanna do more songs like that.â
Thereâs still nods to her enigmatic âWild Youtâ beginnings in the distorted âFlashâ. Standing as the most trap-leaning cut on the record, its intersection with electronica is welcomed, creating a colossal-number worthy of an imminent visual. Like the song’s name, sheâs also rapping at pace, a skill she ironically learned when first experimenting with electronic beats. âElectronic instrumentals are crazy bro. They go off on 200 BPM and it keeps me on my feet. Itâs my exercise to practice on them.â

Further afield, the likes of âMedicineâ that truly unearth brinks of Flohioâs vulnerability. Immersed in melodic guitar runs, she admits to her destructive coping mechanisms. âTook you off my mainline, broke off the arrangement, gone off the radar,â she raps. âItâs definitely a love song. Itâs about when you know someone has bad vibes. I give people several chances and then I get upset when I shouldâve learnt the other times. Itâs about protecting myself, putting myself first.â
âNo Panic No Painâ is unapologetic in its delivery, reigning as one of the most dynamic rap releases of the year. It also stands as a marker of Flohioâs future. A portal to be exact. â’No Panic No Pain’ is an example where I want to go next; electro-rap. I have such a powerful voice, I need to exercise it more. There are other ways to tell my story and I can’t wait to show the world more.â
At 28-years-old, Flohio is wholly embracing of timing and grateful for natural progression across her career. âComing onto the scene for me happened a lot later, but Iâm happy that it happened. If it happened earlier than I think it would be a mess. Iâm still trying to find myself, figure out my writing style, even the beats that sound nice with my voice. Itâs all continues to be a domino effect in terms of my growth.â
Flohio’s ‘No Panic No Pain’ is out now
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