Tobi Ibitoye

Oluwatobi Ayokunle Ibitoye (born 9 August 1993) better known as Tobi Ibitoye, is a Nigerian-born Romanian singer and songwriter from Bucharest. He was a finalist on 5th edition of The Voice of Romania and is now signed to an independent record label in Romania, Uninvited Artists. He is also the first and only Black man to have been listed on Forbes Romania top 30 under 30 list in the year 2016.[1] He moved to Romania at the age of fifteen in 2009 and delved into music right after his appearance on the TV show. His influences include genres such as pop, indie rock and electronic music

Tobi Ibitoye
Tobi Ibitoye
Background information
Birth nameOluwatobi Ayokunle Ibitoye
Born (1993-08-09) 9 August 1993
Nigeria
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • Violin
Years active2015–present
LabelsUninvited Artists

Childhood and education

Tobi Ibitoye was born on 9 August 1993 in Zone 2 of the Wuse District in Abuja. He had his primary and secondary education in Nigeria's capital and at the age of 15, he moved to Bucharest, Romania with his parents,[2] due to his father's engagement to the Nigerian embassy in Romania. Tobi continued his studies at the International School of Bucharest and went on finish his high school education at Cambridge School of Bucharest. He went on to study Biochemistry at the Faculty of Biology of the University of Bucharest.

He first encountered music at church during regular Sunday service. At the age of ten, he started experimenting with his mother's violin and has since maintained an affinity for this instrument.

Music career

The Voice of Romania

In August 2015, Tobi appeared on the Voice of Romania performing James Brown's It's a man's man's man's World.[3] He continued in the competition with Andrei Tiberiu Maria as his mentor and made it to the finals of the competition, where he finished as the second runner up.[4] The impact of his performances on the show was applauded by the Romanian media, especially Forbes Romania, who listed him as one of the most influential people living in Romania under the age of 30 in their annual Top 30 under 30 list for the year 2016, making him the first and only black man to have been on such a list.[5]

Releases

The Finals of the Voice of Romania served as a premier for Tobi Ibitoye, who launched his music career and his first single: "Miss You" [6] produced by Hahaha Production, and signed by the Media Pro Music a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, on the night of the finals.

A few months after the contest, he had to return for a short period of time to his native country, after which he returned to Bucharest and started working on new records with the producers from HaHaHa Production. In the summer of 2018, he signed a record deal with one of the newest Independent Record Labels in Romania, Uninvited Artist, through which his second single Loving me was released.[7]

His second single was remixed by Alin Dumitriu and this remix premiered on Dance FM Bucharest's weekly top 20, on which it was listed for six weeks. It was also listed on Dance FM Bucharest's top 50 records for the year 2018.[8] Loving me also joined the list of Romanian produced records[9] made available on the streaming platform of America's leading Radio Station, iHeartRadio[10]

Tobi's story also attracted the attention of foreign media such as BBC, whose report focused on the challenges of his early days in Bucharest.[11]

"Faith", in collaboration with Gabriel M, set new records for the artist, after entering Dance FM Bucharest's weekly Top 20 where it remained for nine weeks; it is also being broadcast on UTV Romania.

Discography

Singles
  • Miss You (2015)
  • Loving me and Remix (2018)
  • Come home (2018)
  • Real – Deja Who (2018)
  • Love and A Song (2020)

Collaborations
  • Beating heart – Andre Rizo (2018)
  • Real – Deja Who (2018)
  • Faith – Gabriel M (2019)
  • J'ai besoin de toi – Mark Azekko ft. Eneli
  • Mystery – Aspra
  • Sun – Sasha Lopez & Diotic
  • Nowhere – Eneli
  • Dirty Diamonds – Vanotek
  • OK - Deejay Fly
  • LUV - RIME
  • Way Up - Amari

References
  1. "30 SUB 30: În ritm românesc". Forbes.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  2. Macjob, Gbolahan Peter (9 January 2018). "How Nigerian singers have won the hearts of Romanians". Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  3. The Voice of Romania (29 October 2015), Ibitoye Tobi-A man's world(James Brown)-Auditii pe nevazute Ed.6-Vocea Romaniei 2015-Sezon5, retrieved 25 April 2019
  4. Chirilă, Raluca (21 December 2015). "Cristina Bălan este Vocea României 2015: "Nu sunt o victimă. Și nu sunt nici erou"". InfoMusic (in Romanian). Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  5. "Pasiune fără granițe". Forbes.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  6. MediaPro Music (18 December 2015), Tobi Ibitoye – Miss You, retrieved 25 April 2019
  7. "Tobi Ibitoye a lansat un single nou – " LOVING ME"". eva.ro. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  8. "DANCE FM TOP 50 – BEST TRACKS OF 2018". DanceFM.ro – 89,5FM Bucuresti. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  9. "Tobi Ibitoye, succes în Statele Unite ale Americii". protv.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  10. "iheart Radio streaming platform". iheart.com. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  11. "The Nigerian singer who broke Romania". BBC News. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
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