Tobe Nwigwe is unlike any other artist on the Hip Hop scene. The Houston native is fiercely independent and his creativity has allowed him to carve out a lane that is uniquely his own.
His vast catalog includes his acclaimed debut Tobe From The Swat, Tobe From The Swat / The Live Experience, and his latest project moMINTs was released in 2022 which earned him a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist in 2023.
AD LOADING...
Along with his wife Martica “Fat” Nwigwe, Tobe has four children who inspire his artistry. Tobe spoke to HipHopDX about the importance of projecting the image of his family in his art as his personal aesthetic and how that perspective makes him a better artist and a better man.
“My family is my life and I just really want to help people who come from where I come from to understand that it’s possible to be your true self,” Tobe tells HipHopDx. “You don’t have to give up certain things that people tell you got to give up and move a certain way that they tell you. I completely went against all of that for myself because the way that I move brings me the ultimate amount of peace. That’s really why I do it just to show people it’s possible and that you don’t have to be locked into whatever way anybody else wants you to be.”
AD LOADING...
Being of Nigerian descent and hailing from the Igbo people, Tobe expressed his excitement at how the music from the African Diaspora, specifically Afrobeat, is influencing music and pop culture around the world. According to Tobe, Afrobeat is redefining the entire music industry.
“I’ll be honest with you. I think Afrobeat is the most popular genre of music right now,” Tobe said. “It might not be ‘Billboard wise’ but I think it is. You could hear the influence of Afrobeat music in every aspect and genre of music across the board. 100%.”
AD LOADING...
In addition to his thriving music career, Tobe is looking to make his mark as an actor. For his big-screen debut, Tobe is starring in Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts which was released on June 9. In the highly-anticipated blockbuster film, Tobe plays Reek, one of the few actors playing a human in the movie. He’s a tritagonist and companion to Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos) and Elena Wallace (Dominique Fishback) during their adventure. He shared how stunned he was when Paramount reached out to him to be in the film.
“When I got the email, I thought somebody had hacked my email, and was playing around sending prank emails,” he laughed. “Then when I found out it was really from Paramount Pictures, I said, ‘There’s no way possible that y’all just randomly hit me.’ Then I found out it was Steven Caple Jr., the director of the film, that he specifically asked for me and I knew he definitely had to be in tune with the culture and know what was going on. That was specifically the case and I just thought it was an incredible opportunity. For me, it’s just a testament that if you move in the exact direction that you feel you’re called to move in and everything else will get in alignment with the direction that you’re moving towards.”
AD LOADING...
What made the role even more compelling was that the character Reek was based on a mutual friend of Caple’s, who passed away prior to shooting in 2021, Tobe shared that he was even more honored to play the role and pay tribute to Caple’s friend.
“I was made aware that one of his best friends who just passed when he got the script for Transformers and was trying to get somebody to fulfill a role that represented him,” he recalled. “Then he thought to reach out to me.”
“It was lightweight heavy for lack of a better terms because the character I’m portraying represents somebody that was loved by Stphen Caple in real life and you want to bring that to life on the screen,” he continued. “Fortunately, I identify with a lot of the principles that the character stands on. He’s my type of person so it wasn’t hard to walk in those types of shoes because I put those same type of shoes on everyday.”
For the Transformers soundtrack, Tobe contributed “On My Soul” which is poised to be one of the songs of the summer. Produced by The Good Stewards (Nwigwe, Nic Humes, and Nick Baker) and featuring Nas and Jacob Banks, the track gives a futuristic vibe and exemplifies the apocalyptic theme of the film.
“The concept for ‘On My Soul’ came from the idea of the scene that Stephen Caple Jr. described to me. I just sprinkled my creativity on a scene and tried to bring that scene to life through my own lens,” Tobe explained. “Then I was able to reach out to Jacob first because I’m a huge fan of his music. I really listen to his music. And Nas, still to this day, is top five dead or alive. Stephen had a relationship with him, so once we laid down our parts, he was able to reach out to him, he loved the track, and was more than happy to be a part of it. It just turned into something that was just bigger than all of our singular minds would have thought of.”
For the visual, Tobe said he wanted to capture the essence of the song and theme of the movie.
“I had to make up the majority of the video on set the day before, at the location because we were running so close to the deadline. We wanted the video to come out before the movie came dropped. With everything that was going on, it put a certain type of pressure on me to produce,” he recalled. “But it turned out to be really fun to make that piece of art.”
Tobe also shared that he and Nas both did their own stunts in the video, clearing up any confusion about stunt doubles.
“That was me. 100%. That was me. And that was definitely Nas standing on top of Optimus Prime for one of the most legendary shots that we have seen in a long time,” Tobe said.
AD LOADING...
After being one of the culture’s best kept secrets, Tobe has been catapulted into the mainstream of pop culture on his own terms. All of his hard work and ingenuity has paid off handsomely and his success is much deserved. His extremely loyal fans can say that they have rode with him on an incredible journey. This is the moment that Tobe has waited for and he’s ready to seize it.
“I’m just so grateful to be a part of The Transformers and looking forward to hearing the reactions from everyone who’s going to check it out.”
