Biography
Tayo Oyekan, a songwriter of Nigerian-Scottish heritage performing as Tayo Sound, first surfaced in 2018 with a fluid approach that merged rhythm-centered alternative pop and misty late-summer soul. His opening extended play, Runaway, reached listeners in 2021 and contained the tracks “Gone” and “Cold Feet.”
Living in Reading, England, Oyekan credits his religious upbringing with introducing him to music through church services. A pop melody heard as a ringtone on his brother’s phone ignited his curiosity and launched a personal search for original sounds. He absorbed influences ranging from grime and trap to Indian pop while weaving in Scottish narrative traditions and African rhythms. At sixteen he quit school to commit fully to music, using earnings from busking to build a home studio and circulate his recordings. Two of those tracks reached the British Columbia-based music portal Hillydilly, which began featuring the song “Yes or No.”
Label offers soon followed, leading to a deal with Black Butter, an Arista imprint, that arranged writing sessions in London, Los Angeles, and Sweden with George Reid of Aluna George, Rob Milton of Easy Life, and Courage. Courage produced the breezy debut single “Cold Feet,” released in 2020 and later included on Runaway. Oyekan maintained activity in 2022 through the singles “Forwards and Backwards” and the Rudimental collaboration “Hide and Seek,” and he also appeared on Cassia’s “Confidence.”
Living in Reading, England, Oyekan credits his religious upbringing with introducing him to music through church services. A pop melody heard as a ringtone on his brother’s phone ignited his curiosity and launched a personal search for original sounds. He absorbed influences ranging from grime and trap to Indian pop while weaving in Scottish narrative traditions and African rhythms. At sixteen he quit school to commit fully to music, using earnings from busking to build a home studio and circulate his recordings. Two of those tracks reached the British Columbia-based music portal Hillydilly, which began featuring the song “Yes or No.”
Label offers soon followed, leading to a deal with Black Butter, an Arista imprint, that arranged writing sessions in London, Los Angeles, and Sweden with George Reid of Aluna George, Rob Milton of Easy Life, and Courage. Courage produced the breezy debut single “Cold Feet,” released in 2020 and later included on Runaway. Oyekan maintained activity in 2022 through the singles “Forwards and Backwards” and the Rudimental collaboration “Hide and Seek,” and he also appeared on Cassia’s “Confidence.”
Albums
Singles
