Out of Heart
In 2018, Naomi Campbell picked Bermondsey-hailing FLOHIO as one of 10 promising young talents for a feature in *Vogue*. At the time, FLO—real name Funmi Ohiosumah—had yet to release a full-length project. But Campbell was onto something. Soon, more brash, atmospheric, and moody sonics, set against a commanding rhyming style, would come charging out of her Forest Hill studio—leading to mixtape *No Panic No Pain*. “On the mixtape and the EPs, we wanted to go and have fun. With the album, there’s more intention,” she tells Apple Music. “There was a lot of note-taking and revisiting moments in my past to make sure I’m being truthful to myself as an artist—even if it means confronting those uncomfortable things.” Loss—specifically that of a family member—is an immediately apparent theme, but there’s also celebration and a focus on the happier sides of her family life. Music was always important in their household, whether it was her mother’s love of Sade, Lionel Richie, and the Afrobeats rhythms of Tony Allen, or the gospel and hymns that followed them home from Sunday worship. It also came from her father, who made sure to keep his daughter in touch with Nigerian culture. “I understand my old stuff might not be for everybody,” she says. “Everyone’s got a different palette, but with this one, I tried to cater to a wider audience and make something my parents would listen to.” Looking deep within herself, FLO faced up to the heavy emotional baggage she’d been holding and finally found a way to offload it all on *Out of Heart*. “This is literally my all going into this album,” she says. “And at the same time, I’m frustrated, angry, tired—I’m done. Everybody should leave me alone. I’m out of love to give.” That emotional catharsis, she explains, ended up seeping into her dreams. “I just woke up from a dream, or maybe a nightmare, at 3 am one night, and the title was just there. I’m out of heart and out of love to give.” Read on for FLO’s track-by-track guide to her debut album. **“SPF”** “The vibe I was on here, I wanted to mess about with something my parents would listen to. Like, ‘If I went back in time, what would be the vibe?’ And I also wanted to speak about my journey to get to this moment here.” **“Highest”** “This album feels like a new chapter, and I can’t wait to explore this new side of myself. I made this album with close friends and colleagues that I’ve been working with for years, but I want to push the door open a bit more and connect with new sounds. That’s something I’m really looking forward to.” **“Leash”** “This is an anthem. You can hear it onstage, everybody singing along to it. That’s just what it is with my songs. These big, impactful choruses—I just want it to be a sing-along and almost feel like it could be a soundtrack to a movie.” **“L.M.P.M”** “The story around this one here is something quite prominent on here. Writing this song, I felt lighter. I was coming from a heavy perspective, but writing things down, I started to just lighten up a little. But I wanted to end on an uplifting note. We’re always looking everywhere, trying to find peace and trying to find love everywhere, but do we ever look within?” **“Cuddy Buddy”** “It took about nine months to finish this song. Some take days or months, but this—we just kept coming back to it month after month after month. I guess it was the lyrics. It took me a while to capture what I was trying to say, and I put a lot of my feelings into this. I don’t know if that’s boring these days. I know many people don’t have the mental capacity, but when I write my art, it’s always emotional.” **“Grace”** “I took a trip to Nigeria because I was losing a family member to cancer, and I didn’t know what the outcome was going to be. I just wanted to see my auntie. Unfortunately, we lost her, but it’s not new to me. She is the third family member I’ve lost to cancer. It was like, ‘OK. What happens now?’ My escape is always music. So, I just went to the studio again. This is for all of my cousins that just lost their moms. They listen to my songs, as well, so it’s not just for me—I want to make them proud, too.” **“2 HOURS” (feat. Hawa)** “I really love the chorus in this one. It’s about a friend of mine who did something that I found so evil. I was more heartbroken than annoyed because it was a bond that I thought would just never break.” **“Speed of Light”** “After being emotional and talking about all of these heartbreaks and broken bonds, I wanted to lighten the mood a bit. I didn’t want to completely submerge myself into this new world of FLO that not everyone is accustomed to. I wanted to put a bit of my old self in there. I call these songs ‘in-and-out tracks.’ I go in, I get the job done, and I’m out. Boom, boom, boom. It’s like a heist.” **“Late Set”** “A lot of these songs are for individual \[listening\] and are quite emotional, but I also wanted some songs for people that just want to go to the club, rage, and have a good one. Because once them lights go off and speakers are blasting onstage, everyone’s in unison at that moment.” **“Feel Alive”** “My producer first played this one in 2021, but it wasn’t even done yet. It was just little drum sets with a little melody on there. It was quite easy to write because the beat just took over my body. I didn’t overthink this track. Even down to the lyrics, the melodies—this song wrote itself.” **“Against the Grain”** “This one was made in Bermondsey. I wanted to showcase different sides of my vocals. I don’t like to say ‘singing’ because I’m a rapper, but I can stretch my vocals, which is what I did on this track. I think the writing was beautiful, but it also feels like a crescendo. I love my songs to sound like big anthems, and this is another one that people can sing along to.”
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After six years of diligently posting EPs, Bermondsey-based FLOHIO releases her debut album, 'Out Of Heart'. With help from executive producers God Colony
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