TOBi, real name Oluwatobi Feyisara Ajibolade, was born in 1993 in Lagos, Nigeria. When he and his family moved to Brampton, Ontario, TOBi started making music as a way to cope with the change. Reflecting on his immigration journey paved the way for his breakthrough 2017 single, “Hidden Fences,” a soul-funk song about the effects of gentrification that was featured on an episode of Insecure. He continued to celebrate his cultural identity and examine the larger human experience across his songs, singing in Yoruba on “Come Back Home,” from his 2019 debut album, STILL, and committing to grinding for loved ones on 2021’s “Family Matters.” By broaching at times uncomfortable topics like masculinity, vulnerability, and love, TOBi aims to help people, as he told Apple Music, “live in their honest and genuine places.”