Tobechukwu Dubem "Tobe" Nwigwe (pronounced "''toh-beh-CHOO-kwoo'' ''doo-BEM TOH-beh nuh-WEE-gweh"''; born March 8th, 1987), is an American rapper, singer and actor.

Music career

Beginning in August 2016, Nwigwe began posting an original song and video every Sunday across social media. This led to a large social media following through his Instagram and YouTube posts and videos. Nwigwe regularly collaborates with his wife. Nwigwe appeared on the BET Hip Hop Awards 2018 Cypher. He is a featured artist on

PJ Morton P.J. Morton (born Paul Sylvester Morton Jr.; March 29, 1981) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Since 2012, he has been the keyboardist for the pop band Maroon 5. Morton originally joined the band as a touring mem ...

's album ''

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

'', released on August 9, 2019 by Morton Records and Empire Records. In 2019, Nwigwe performed on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series. His music has garnered attention from Michelle Obama, who put his song "I'm Dope" on her workout playlist. In 2020, Nwigwe went viral on digital platforms for his song "I Need You To (Breonna Taylor)".He said God gave him a vision to do the song as a public service announcement. He performed his songs "Try Jesus" and "Eat" at the 2020 BET Hip Hop Awards. "Try Jesus" reached No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' R&B Digital Song Sales chart. Nwigwe has collaborated with many other artists, including

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

, television host Anthony "Spice" Adams,

Paul Wall Paul Michael Slayton (born March 11, 1981), better known by his stage name Paul Wall, or the Ice Man, is an American rapper and DJ. He has spent much of his career affiliated with Swishahouse, and has released several albums under the label and ...

Chamillionaire Hakeem Temidayo Seriki (born November 28, 1979), better known by his stage name Chamillionaire (), is an American rapper. He began his career in Houston's hip hop scene in the late 1990s. He was briefly signed with the local record label Swishah ...

Duckwrth Jared Leonardo Lee (born May 13, 1989), better known by his stage name Duckwrth (pronounced "duckworth" and stylized in all caps), is an American rapper, singer, record producer, songwriter, and artist, best known for touring with Billie Eilish ...

Big K.R.I.T. Justin Lewis Scott (born August 26, 1986), known professionally as Big K.R.I.T. (a backronym for King Remembered in Time), is an American rapper and record producer. Born in Meridian, Mississippi, he began his musical career in 2005. He was sign ...

, D Smoke,

Black Thought Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, singer, actor and the lead Emcee (hip hop), MC of the hip hop group The Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove in Philadelphia. Regar ...

Royce Da 5'9" Ryan Daniel Montgomery (born July 5, 1977), known professionally as Royce da 5'9" (or simply Royce 5'9"), is an American rapper. Best known for his association with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, they became acquainted in 1997 and formed the hi ...

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

, Jacob Banks,

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

, and Penny & Sparrow. Nwigwe's ''The Pandemic Project'' was released in 2020.

Other Works

Nwigwe appears in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series '' Mo (TV series)'' as Nick, Mo's best friend since childhood. The show was created by and stars comedian Mo Amer. He also starred as Reek in '' Transformers: Rise of the Beasts'', to which he also contributed to the soundtrack.

Personal life

Nwigwe is from the Alief neighborhood of

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

in the U.S. state of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. He is of Nigerian descent, and hails from the Igbo ethnic group. He was raised

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, but later began attending

nondenominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...

churches. Tobe played high school and then college football at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

. He was being considered for draft by the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

, however, a Lisfranc ligament tear left him unable to play. He then founded the nonprofit TeamGINI, a name derived from “Gịnị bụ mkpa gị??” which translates to “What’s your need?” in the

Igbo language Igbo ( , ; Standard Igbo: ''Ásụ̀sụ́ Ìgbò'' ) is the principal native language cluster of the Igbo people, an ethnicity in the Southeastern part of Nigeria. Igbo languages are spoken by a total of 31 million people. The number of Igbo ...

. TeamGINI aims to help families in need by giving them gifts that aid them in gaining financial literacy and independence. After encouragement from the motivational speaker Eric Thomas, Nwigwe began focusing on music. Tobe is married to Martica Ivory "Fat" Nwigwe, née Rogers. They have 5 children, Ivory, Sage, Chukwueze, Chikodili and Jachike.

Discography

*''Tobe From The Swat'' mp3 album (ETA Records, 2017) *''The Originals'' (LP, Self-released, 2018) *''More Originals'' (LP, Tobe Nwigwe LLC, 2018) *''Three Originals'' (LP, Tobe Nwigwe LLC, 2019) *''Fouriginals (LP, Tobe Nwigwe LLC, 2019) *''Tobe From The Swat / The Live Experience'' (Double LP, Tobe Nwigwe LLC, 2019) *''Cincoriginals'' (LP, 2020) *''The Pandemic Project'' (EP, 2020) *''At the Crib Arrangements'' (EP, 2021) *''The Monumintal Live Recording'' (2022) *''moMINTs'' (LP, 2022) *''On My Soul'' (2023) *''Hood Hymns'' (2024)

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nwigwe, Tobe 1987 births Living people American rappers Rappers from Houston American people of Igbo descent American people of Nigerian descent American musicians of Nigerian descent