A native of
Anambra State, Chibuzor Nelson Azubuike was born and raised in
Enugu State. His stage moniker came from the word phenomenal, which one of his friends from secondary school gave him. Phyno developed an interest in music production during his secondary school days. He initially wanted to become a pilot, but was told that he could be a doctor. He learned to play the drums and piano throughout secondary school and created his own rendition of every recording he heard. He studied
public administration at the
Institute of Management and Technology in
Enugu, and started profiting from music during his second year there. Phyno told Ifeoma Onoye that
Mr Raw was one of the few people he looked up to. He started rapping in 2010 and relocated to
Lagos to further his music career. Phyno started recording his debut studio album,
No Guts No Glory, in 2012. The album featured guest appearances from Stormrex,
Omawumi,
Olamide, Efa,
P-Square,
Timaya,
Flavour N'abania, Mr Raw,
M.I,
Ice Prince and
Runtown. It was primarily recorded in
Igbo and
Nigerian Pidgin. The Olamide-assisted track "Ghost Mode" was released on 25 September 2012, as the album's lead single. The song won Best Collabo at both
The Headies 2012 and
2013 Nigeria Entertainment Awards. On 7 December 2012, Phyno released the music video for "Ghost Mode", which was filmed in Lagos by
Clarence Peters. Sputnet Records released the album's second single, "Man of the Year (Obago)", on 23 March 2013. The song won Best Rap Single at the
2013 Headies Awards. In June 2013, Phyno performed for 25 minutes in
Owerri as part of the Star Music Trek tour. As a supporting act on the 2013 Hennessy Artistry Club Tour, he toured with
D'banj,
Burna Boy,
Chidinma,
Vector, Pucado,
Seyi Shay,
Show Dem Camp, Kay Switch and
Sean Tizzle. The music video for "Man of the Year (Obago)" was uploaded to YouTube on 20 August 2013. It was also directed by
Clarence Peters in Abakpa Nike and features a cameo appearance from
Illbliss. In September 2013, the
Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation banned the music video from being broadcast. The album's third single "Parcel", originally titled "Parcel (a Big Nwa)", was released on 11 October 2013. The music video for "Parcel" was recorded by Peters and released on 19 February 2014. "O Set" was released as the album's fourth single on 4 March 2014. The song was produced by
WizzyPro and features vocals by
P-Square. The song's music video was directed by Jude Engees Okoye. On 22 May 2014, Phyno released the music video for "Alobam", which was directed by
Clarence Peters. "Alobam" was produced by Major Bangz and is an Igbo slang for "My Guy". On 2 September 2014, Phyno released the video for his "Authe (Authentic)" song with Flavour. On 7 October 2014, he released the Major Bangz-produced track "Yayo", which debuted at number 8 on the Pulse Music Video chart. Phyno performed at the 2014 edition of the Star Music Trek tour in Nsukka, Enugu State. The Peters-directed music video for "Yayo" premiered on 5 January 2015. Opeoluwani Akintayo of
The Daily Times of Nigeria gave the video an overall rating of 8 of 10, commending its use of props.
2 Kings, a joint album by Phyno and
Olamide, was released on 1 April 2015. Both rappers announced plans for the album's release on social media. Phyno announced plans to release his third studio album,
Deal With It, in March 2019. Supported by the singles "Agu" and "The Bag", the album features guest appearances from Olamide,
Falz,
Davido,
Don Jazzy,
Zoro, Runtown and
Teni. In July 2021, Phyno released the single "Bia". == Artistry ==