Welcome to my other world,’ says Biyi Alo, as he stoops his head to enter the low-ceilinged, sound-proofed recording studio.
With vinyl records from Kanye West, Snoop Dogg and Nas mounted on the walls, it feels a long way from the conservative lines of the rugby pitch. The Wasps prop is approaching one million streaming hits on Spotify and has just been working on his latest video, Chopper Sounds, set around a London estate.
‘People think you should do one or the other: music or rugby,’ he says. ‘You wouldn’t expect someone from rugby to go into music because it’s a public school, white, male sport. You wouldn’t really expect a black guy from London to be in professional rugby. It’s a nice juxtaposition but music is all around you at a rugby match.
Wasps tighthead prop Biyi Alo is approaching one million streaming hits on Spotify
For now, rugby is still very much Alo's priority and is focused on another play-off push
‘When I wrote my first song back in 2018, I just played it to myself because I didn’t want my team-mates to hear it. I’d been in love with music for a long time, mainly writing poems.
‘My worry was, “I’m a big tighthead prop, do I really want to come across as this guy with all these deep feelings?”
‘I had a couple of team-mates round for dinner, put my song on and left the room. I came back in and I realised most of my concerns were just in my head. I put my heart on my sleeve a bit and the guys quite admired it.’
Alo’s profile is growing in the underground music world, featuring regularly on urban music shows and collaborating with producers and videographers. And his songs are also growing in popularity with his most-feared critics: his team-mates.
As for his musical ambitions, Alo, who exclusively spoke to Sportsmail, has equally big goals
‘There’s a whole diverse range of people in the changing rooms and guys I wouldn’t expect have come up to me and repeated lines from a song I have done,’ he says.
‘I would be like, “Hang on, you always play the Frozen soundtrack in the gym —
