LeoStayTrill

A 21st-century explorer of global sounds, LeoStayTrill fuses Afrobeats with the crisp, rhythmic textures of drill that shaped hip-hop across America and England during the 2020s, moving from British television exposure to international reach. Tinotenda Leo Garanza entered the world in Zimbabwe in 2006 and grew up in southeast London, where an early fascination with music took hold. Although his household lacked any musical tradition, relatives supported his goals by assisting with the launch of a YouTube channel that hosted his original tracks and freestyle verses under the name OfficiallyLeo. Following scattered moments of nascent online attention, the teenager achieved wider recognition through an appearance on the children’s version of the singing contest The Voice, where will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas served as his televised coach; as one of the few participants to showcase self-written material, Leo advanced to become one of the program’s four finalists. Adopting the moniker LeoStayTrill in 2022, Garanza reached listeners beyond Europe via the 2023 release “Honeybun,” whose visibility grew through footage of him directing coordinated dance routines during a visit to Zimbabwe. The following year, the collaboration “Pink Lemonade (Str8 Reload)” with content creator Mr Reload It gained traction as a backdrop for user-generated clips across social platforms, securing placement on both the U.K. singles chart and Billboard’s ranking of TikTok viral tracks.