Tobi Adeyemi (born November 3, 1988), known professionally as Tobi Lou (stylized in

lower case Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (more formally '' minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing system ...

), is a Nigerian-American singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer.

Early life

Tobi Adeyemi was born in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

and raised in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He attended

Homewood-Flossmoor High School Homewood-Flossmoor High School (H-F) is a comprehensive public high school in Flossmoor, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The school serves an area of nearly , drawing students from Homewood, Flossmoor, and parts of Chicago Heights, Glenwoo ...

and

Hinsdale Central High School Hinsdale Central High School, or HCHS (locally referred to as simply "Central") is a public four-year high school located at the corner of W. 55th St. and S. Grant St. in Hinsdale, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois. It is located ...

, where he began recording music. He attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

where he played club

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and then

SUNY Albany The State University of New York at Albany (University at Albany, UAlbany, or SUNY Albany) is a public research university in Albany, New York, United States. Founded in 1844, it is one of four "university centers" of the State University of N ...

and

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for both teams. After not getting drafted in the

2011 MLB draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the fi ...

, he played 2 years of semi-pro baseball for the

Joliet Slammers The Joliet Slammers are a professional baseball team based in Joliet, Illinois. The Slammers compete in the Frontier League (FL) as a member of the Midwest Division. The team plays their home games at the Duly Health and Care Field, and is owne ...

as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

before leaving in 2012 due to injury. In 2014, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to continue his musical career. While in Los Angeles, he worked as an

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...

driver.

Career

2015–2018: Beginnings and ''tobi lou and the'' Trilogy

On September 16, 2015, Adeyemi released his first single, "Pretty Please". In 2015, he released the single "Your Baby" under the name Wonda. On February 9, 2018, he released his first EP, ''tobi lou and the Moon''. On March 8, 2018, he released the single "Troop" featuring

Smino Christopher Smith Jr. (born October 2, 1991), better known by his stage name Smino, is an American rapper and singer. He is the founder of the musical collective Zero Fatigue with Bari, Monte Booker, Jay2, and Ravyn Lenae. He is one third of ...

. On March 9, 2018,

What So Not What So Not is an electronic music project by Australian record producer Emoh Instead (stage name of Christopher John Emerson). What So Not has toured the world, playing in various festivals, including Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, ...

released the album '' Not All the Beautiful Things'', which contained the song "Monsters" featuring Adeyemi and Michael Christmas. On April 27, 2018, he released the ''tobi lou and the Loop'' EP, which contained the song "Buff Baby", which gained significant traction on TikTok. On June 30, 2020, "Buff Baby" was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. On August 10, 2018, he released the ''tobi lou and the Juice'' EP. On October 6, 2018, he debuted on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Next Big Sound chart, peaking at position 8. On December 18, 2018,

Penomeco Jeong Dong-uk (Korean: 정동욱; born October 7, 1992), better known by his stage name, Penomeco (Korean: 페노메코), is a South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter. He released his debut single ''Right There'' on October 16, 2014. He also rel ...

released his ''Garden'' EP, which featured Adeyemi on the song "Cool". Adeyemi and Marc E. Bassy joined Kyle on his 2018 "Lightspeed" tour.

2019–2022: ''Live on Ice, Lingo Starr,'' and ''Non-Perishable''

In 2019, Adeyemi embarked on his first headlining tour, the "Happy + Extra Sad" tour with Liltrxptendo and femdot. The tour began on September 12, 2019 in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, and ended on October 20, 2019 in Chicago. On August 2, 2019, he released his debut full-length studio album, ''Live On Ice,'' featuring guest appearances from Erica René, Cam O'bi,

Rockie Fresh Donald Howard Pullen (born April 16, 1991), known professionally as Rockie Fresh, is an American rapper. He was signed to Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group and Atlantic Records. Pullen is known for his alternatively influenced style of hip-hop, and ...

, Soundbwoy, okay(K), Glassface, Vernon,

Ryan Destiny Ryan Destiny (born January 8, 1995) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. Destiny is best known for her roles in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox TV musical drama ''Star (TV series), Star'', the Freeform (TV channel), Freeform sitcom ' ...

, Djemba Djemba, and LeJKeys. The album peaked at 45 on the US Independent Albums

Billboard chart The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

and 14 on the

US Top Heatseekers The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...

chart. On October 19, 2019, he was ranked 50 on the

Bandsintown Bandsintown is a music website that allows users to receive notifications about tours and bands playing in the user's area. It also has tools for artists to manage tour dates. Bandsintown was included in ''Business Insider’''s 2014 list of wor ...

x Billboard US Rising Artists Index. On November 22, 2019,

released the single "The Same" featuring Adeyemi. Adeyemi was featured on the song "Pray For Real" by Peter CottonTale, alongside

Chance the Rapper Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, he released his debut mixtape '' 10 Day'' (2012) during one of his high school suspension ...

, on CottonTale's album ''Catch'', which released on April 17, 2020. The song peaked at 24 on the Gospel Airplay chart. Adeyemi was featured on the song "Morocco" by

Kota the Friend Avery Marcel Joshua Jones (born October 16, 1992), known by his stage name Kota The Friend (Stylized as ''KOTA The Friend''), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He got his stage ...

, on his album ''Everything'', which released on May 22, 2020. On July 3, 2020, he released the ''Lingo Starr EP''. On November 10, 2020, he released the single "Okay" with

Dreezy Seandrea Sledge (born March 28, 1994), better known by her stage name Dreezy, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. She signed with Interscope Records in 2014 where she released the studio albums '' No Hard Feelings'' (2016) and '' Big ...

. On November 24, 2020,

Saba Saba may refer to: Places * Saba (island), an island of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea * Sabá, a municipality in the department of Colón, Honduras * Șaba or Șaba-Târg, the Romanian name for Shabo, a village in Ukraine * Saba, ...

released the single "Areyoudown? Pt. 2", featuring Adeyemi. On January 23, 2021, he was ranked 2 on the Billboard Top Chicago Emerging R&B/Hip-Hop Artists 2021 chart. On March 11, 2022, his studio album ''Non-Perishable'' was released, featuring guest appearances from

T-Pain Faheem Rashad Najm (born September 30, 1984), known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer and rapper. He is known for popularizing creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electro ...

Jean Deaux Zoi Harris (born May 4, 1995), better known by her stage name Jean Deaux () is an American musician. She is known for her involvement in multiple genres and creative mediums. Her debut EP ''Krash'' was released in October 19, 2018. Career Deaux ...

, and Chika. The album peaked at 83 on the

US Top Album Sales chart, 46 on the US Top Current Album Sales chart, and 5 on the US Top Heatseekers chart. On April 2, 2021,

released the album ''Slid Thru Pt 2'', featuring Adeyemi and Jeff Kaale on the song "Gucci". On March 25, 2022, he was ranked 33 on the Billboard

Emerging Artists The Emerging Artists is a music chart released weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine listing the most popular developing musician, music artists. The chart uses the same formula as the all-encompassing Artist 100, ''Billboard'' Art ...

chart. On July 29, 2022,

Warren Hue Warren Hue (born Warren Hui June 20, 2002) is an Indonesian rapper, singer, songwriter and music producer, producer signed to the New York label 88rising. Early life Warren Hue was born June 20, 2002, and grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia. He atten ...

's album ''Boy of the Year'' released, featuring Adeyemi on the song "In My Bag."

2023–present: ''Baggy Weather'', ''Sorry I'm Late'', and ''Decent''

On March 31, 2023, he released the album ''Baggy Weather'', featuring guest appearances from

Chief Keef Keith Farrelle Cozart (born August 15, 1995), better known by his stage name Chief Keef, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in Chicago's South Side, he began his recording career as a teenager and initially garnered re ...

and eaJ, as an exclusive on his TobiLoop app. A 'mini-version' of the album was released the same day on

streaming services A streaming media service (also simply called a streaming service) is an online platform that allows users to watch or listen to content, such as film, movies, Television show, TV shows, music, or podcasts, over the internet. Instead of downloadi ...

. On May 5, 2023, he released the ''Sorry I'm Late'' EP. Adeyemi joined

on his "Escape From Wiscansin: The Invasion" tour in the summer of 2023. On June 30, 2023, he released the album '''Decent'', featuring guest appearances from Dame D.O.L.L.A.,

Polo G Taurus Tremani Bartlett (born January 6, 1999), known professionally as Polo G, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence with his singles " Finer Things" and " Pop Out" (featuring Lil Tjay). His debut album '' Die a Legend'' (2019) peaked a ...

, rä lomac, Glassface, Chief Keef,

, and internetboy. In August 2023, he announced the "Perish Blue" tour with grouptherapy. The tour begins on September 21, 2023 in

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 ...

, and ends on October 29, 2023 in Phoenix. On September 15, 2023, he released the single "Cobra" featuring

Young Thug Jeffery Lamar Williams II (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern hip hop music, hip hop and trap music ...

. On October 23, 2023, Adeyemi performed as K'Sante in the

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...

virtual band In entertainment, a virtual band (also called a virtual idol, virtual singer, virtual group, virtual artists, cartoon group, cartoon idol, cartoon singer or cartoon band) is a band or music group whose depicted members are not people, but animate ...

Heartsteel, alongside

Baekhyun Byun Baek-hyun (; born May 6, 1992), known mononymously as Baekhyun, is a South Korean singer and actor. He is a member of the South Korean-Chinese boy band Exo, its subgroup Exo-K and its subunit Exo-CBX. In 2019, Baekhyun became a leader of ...

ØZI Stefan Chen Yi-fan (; born March 27, 1997), known professionally as ØZI, is a Taiwanese American singer-songwriter and rapper. ØZI is noted for integrating the genres of contemporary urban hip-hop, R&B, and Mandopop. Early life and educati ...

, and Cal Scruby, in the band's debut single, "Paranoia".

Artistry

Tobi Lou has stated that artists including

André 3000 André Lauren Benjamin (born May 27, 1975), known professionally as André 3000, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he was one half of the hip-hop duo Outkast along with rapper Big Boi, which the two formed in 1992. Benj ...

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in the New York rap scene and gangsta rap tradi ...

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...

Tupac Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

NSYNC NSYNC ( ; also stylized as *NSYNC or N Sync) was an American vocal group and pop boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. The group consists of Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez, ...

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer and rapper. Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, he is widely acclaimed for his distinctive production work and "stuttering" rhythm ...

Frank Ocean Frank Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987) is an American singer and songwriter. He has been credited by several music journalism, music critics as a pioneer of the alternative R&B genre. Ocean has won two Grammy Awards and a B ...

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Levine, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, d ...

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 ...

, and

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

are inspirations for him.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

Guest appearances

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lou, Tobi American hip-hop record producers 1988 births Living people 21st-century Nigerian rappers Nigerian male rappers Nigerian hip-hop singers Rappers from Chicago Pop rappers American hip-hop singers Nigerian emigrants to the United States Florida A&M Rattlers baseball players Joliet Slammers players Homewood-Flossmoor High School alumni Albany Great Danes athletes University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni