TOBi

A soul-searching and emotionally unguarded rapper and singer from Canada via Nigeria, TOBi arrived in 2016 with the FYi EP, and after a short series of singles returned in 2019 with the full-length STILL.
Born in Lagos and a native of Canada since an early childhood move to Ottawa, Ontario, Oluwatobi Ajibolade developed an interest in music as a youngster and began to use the artform as a way to channel his emotions. His commercial recorded debut as TOBi was made in 2016 with FYi, released by the Sony-supported upstart label Same Plate Music. The EP featured the assertive single "Deeper" and "Don't Wanna Think," a bluesy Kweku Collins collaboration. A handful of singles scattered over 2017 and 2018 -- while Ajibolade juggled collegiate studies in behavioral and natural science -- led to the 2019 release of the debut album STILL, also issued by Same Plate. Remarkably unreliant on the signal-boosting strategy of incorporating high-profile artist features, only VanJess made a guest appearance. ~ Andy Kellman