Tobechukwu Dubem "Tobe" Nwigwe (born March 8, 1987) is an American rapper, singer and actor. As of 2022, Nwigwe co-stars in the
Netflix television series ''
Mo'' and received a nomination for
Best New Artist at the
65th Grammy Awards
The 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony will be held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023. It will recognize the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2021, to September 30 ...
.
Personal life
Nwigwe is from the
Alief neighborhood of
Houston
Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...
in the U.S. state of
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
.
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 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
, but later began attending
nondenominational churches.
He played high school football and then college football at the
University of North Texas. He was being considered for draft by the
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
. However, a
Lisfranc ligament tear left him unable to continue to play football.
He then founded the nonprofit TeamGINI, a name derived from “Gini Bu Nkpa Gi?” which translates to “What’s your purpose?” in the
Igbo language. 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 in earnest.
He is married to Martica "Fat" Nwigwe and they have three children.
Music career
Since August 2016, he has posted an original song and video every Sunday across social media.
He began to gain a following through his Instagram and YouTube posts and videos.
Nwigwe collaborates with his wife, Fat (born Martica Ivory Rogers), and friend and producer/rapper LaNell "Nell" Grant, also known as The Originals. The three came together while working with Nwigwe's nonprofit TeamGINI.
Nwigwe appeared on the BET Hip Hop Awards 2018 Cypher. He is a featured artist on
PJ Morton
P.J. Morton (born Paul Morton Jr.; March 29, 1981) is an American Grammy winning musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Since 2012, he has been one of the keyboardists, alongside Jesse Carmichael, for the pop rock band Maroon 5. Mo ...
's album ''
Paul'', released on August 9, 2019 by Morton Records and Empire Records.
In 2019, Nwigwe and The Originals performed on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series with a backing band. His music has garnered a lot of attention, including 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 television host
Anthony "Spice" Adams,
Paul Wall,
Chamillionaire,
Duckwrth,
Big K.R.I.T.,
D Smoke,
Black Thought,
Royce Da 5'9"
Ryan Daniel Montgomery, known professionally as Royce da 5'9" (or simply Royce 5'9"), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Montgomery is currently one half of the rap duo Bad Meets Evil with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, and ...
Penny & Sparrow and more.
Nwigwe's ''The Pandemic Project'' was released in 2020.
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 Monumental Live Recording'' (2022)
*''moMINTs'' (LP, 2022)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nwigwe, Tobe
American rappers
1987 births
Living people