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 art form 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 his 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. This course was reversed somewhat when the album was re-released in deluxe form the next year as STILL+, which included new songs and remixes, and featured appearances from Shad, the Game, Kemba, and various others.
Second album ELEMENTS, Vol. 1 was released later in 2020, and from there TOBi issued several singles or remixes of earlier songs with new performances from other artists. These included a 2021 remix of the ELEMENTS track "Family Matters" featuring Flo Milli and the new R&B-flavored song "Come as You Are" featuring Baby Rose. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi
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City Blues |
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Holiday |
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Sweet Poison |