Tobi

Emerging from Nigeria by way of Canada, the warmly intoned TOBi crafts introspective rap and vocals that lay emotions bare. His entrance came via the independently issued FYi EP in 2016, after which RCA secured his signature and issued the first album under its banner, Still, three years afterward. Early reluctance to chase visibility through marquee guests gave way to greater openness, evident on the 2020 follow-up Elements, Vol. 1, which brought in Sango, Loony, and Harrison, while the run-up to 2023’s Panic—a project whose lyrics span civic awareness and eroticism—featured preparatory tracks aided by Mavi and Topaz Jones.

Lagos-born Oluwatobi Feyisara Ajibolade settled in Ottawa, Ontario, during his earliest years and turned to music as a child to process feelings. The 2016 arrival of FYi on the Sony-backed newcomer label Same Plate Music marked his first commercial TOBi release, spotlighting the forthright cut “Deeper” alongside the blues-tinged “Don’t Wanna Think,” a joint effort with Kweku Collins. Additional standalone tracks appeared across 2017 and 2018 as he balanced studies in behavioral and natural sciences, paving the way for the 2019 album STILL, also on Same Plate. That set centered on the intense “City Blues” and limited its sole outside contribution to VanJess. The following year’s deluxe STILL+ expanded the package with fresh material and remixes while adding appearances from Shad, the Game, and Kemba. Still later in 2020, Elements, Vol. 1 arrived as a broader collaboration, anchored by the laid-back “Beige” and the exultant “Made Me Everything.” Subsequent output included a 2021 remix of the Elements track “Family Matters” now featuring Flo Milli, plus the soul-leaning “Come as You Are” with Baby Rose. Singles issued in 2022 and the first months of 2023—“Too Hot,” the Do Revenge soundtrack entry “Move,” and “She Loves Me,” succeeded by “Flowers” with Mavi and “All Night Long” alongside Topaz Jones—signaled the approach of the next full-length project.