Gent’s Talk: Ep 36 - A Sit-Down w/ ToBi

Welcome to Episode 36 of the Gent’s Talk podcast, where we sat down with 5x Juno Award nominee ToBi. The 2023 Rap Album/EP of the Year winner shared his story, including quitting his job to pursue music, and spoke on the positivity of vulnerability.

Confidence Is Key

The confident, soft-spoken gentleman from Lagos, Nigeria, is blowing up across Canada with the buzz of his new album set to be released before summer 2023. Like all hot commodities, the spotlight has its fair share of negativity. When asked about dealing with the haters, he laughed at the idea of people hating on other people who are just trying to pursue their dreams. “I don’t respond [to negative comments] because that’s feeding into their low frequencies,” he clarified.

What we say to, and who we surround ourselves with are crucial. ToBi firmly believes in the power of self-talk and confidently admits to talking to himself. He makes sure to remind himself, “you got this,” regularly. We must be careful when people who don’t support our dreams reveal themselves. “You can’t sow any seed of doubt,” ToBi stresses, “the moment that happens, you might as well pack it in.” He expressed his gratitude for having a strong circle. He is grateful to have people in his corner that allow him to be vulnerable when things aren’t going well.

Unapologetic Soul Music

Family is essential to Oluwatobi Feyisara Ajibolade (ToBi), who moved to Brampton from Nigeria when he was nine. At first, it was just him and his father, and he felt an unsettling disconnect until his father could get the rest of the family over. ToBi worked as a Youth Mental Health Counselor before pursuing his passion full-time. He has the utmost respect for counsellors because it’s a thankless job. The pay is not great, and the work is hard. It’s the same delayed gratification learned from counselling that he applies to his art and advises newcomers to the industry to practice. Please listen as he recalls a hilarious conversation with one of the youths he was working with that shifted his brain to start taking rap seriously.

Dropping Gems

After rapper/singer ToBi said, “you have to be arrogant enough to think ‘I’m the best,’ yet humble enough to know ‘I can get better,’” we were intrigued to hear what advice he’d give to newbies entering the industry:

Have unwavering determination.
Be willing to sacrifice a lot.
Have a financial runway (how long can you sustain pursuing your dreams?)
Utilize the power of DIY (before outsourcing services to other people).
Focus on networking (not just networking up, but also parallel).

“Anytime an individual is vulnurable, it’s a net positive.”
ToBi on vulnerability

Please tune into Episode 36 for the entire conversation, where ToBi also talks about his UNPACK community and listen as he rebukes the “starving artist” notion.

About Gent’s Talk

Gent’s Talk is available for streaming on Youtube, Spotify, Goodpods, iHeartRadio, Apple and Google Podcasts! Episode 36 of Gent’s Talk is presented by Bulova Canada and supported by Ride Rude. It is filmed at StartWell Studios in Toronto. You can now catch Season 1 on all Air Canada flights! Your continued support throughout this journey is appreciated. Thank you!