Tunde

Tunde, from Manchester in England, drew notice in 2018 through his dense lyrical style and weighty subject matter, shaped by West Coast hip hop of the nineties and U.K. road rap of the following decade.

Raised in the southern district of Chorlton, Olu Baba Tunde encountered hardship from childhood onward. By age five he and his mother plus siblings had to relocate at times to Lincolnshire shelters. His father departed for good once Tunde reached eleven. The death of a close friend in his early twenties reportedly turned him toward rapping. After posting many freestyles online, California rappers Joe Blow and Lil AJ traveled to Manchester in 2018 to work with him and film the clip for “Mob City (UK to the Bay)” inside Chorlton’s expansive Southern Cemetery. Late that year he laid down a brooding yet self-assured freestyle for Mixtape Madness.

He began issuing his own material in 2019 with the dance-oriented “Fendi & Supreme” on his Mob City label and added further singles there, including another Mixtape Madness appearance on “Mad About Bars.” Persistent listener requests that same year earned him a three-part freestyle on BBC 1Xtra’s Voice of the Streets show hosted by Kenny Allstar. Five more Mob City tracks arrived in 2020, among them the stark “Say Less Do More” with fellow Manchester artist Meekz, plus “Mob Ties,” “Crash Bandicoot,” “Stitch Lipped,” and “Daily Duppy.” “Freestyle 2021” opened the next year, followed in March by the joint EP They Land Better in Manchester with Taylor Gang’s Berner.

Arrested in April while moving between video locations in North London, Tunde was held on remand for alleged shootings until his release on bail in early 2023. He resurfaced that February with “Fresh Home Freestyle” and continued dropping one single each month until May’s “Back 2 Back,” featuring Barking’s Potter Payper, achieved modest chart success. His debut mixtape First Lap then entered at number four on the U.K. album chart, carrying productions from Shadow on the Beat, MKthePlug, LiTek, Legendary Keyzz, and WhyJay.