An hour before penning this article, I was on YouTube, searching out Tolu Obanro’s interviews. I only found one, a thirty-six minute-plus long interview with a channel, Memoir of a Naija Girl. The result is almost the same via a Google search, one or two interviews here and there. While there is a shortage of interviews or media appearances, the two platforms mentioned are filled up with works by Tolu Obanro. From music produced to movie soundtracks, he even shared his views via short videos sometimes. Tolu Obanro is the quintessential example of ‘letting my work do the talking’. And to be fair to him, his works have already been doing the talking. The statement has been made loud and clear.
Born about three decades ago in Ilorin, Kwara State, the Nigerian-based film composer spent most of his childhood in Lokoja, Kogi State where he attended Government Science secondary school for his post-primary school education. He proceeded to the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria state to study Geology. He capped it up with a production course at the National Broadcast Academy, Lagos State.
In the course of this educational pursuit, Tolu Obanro’s interest in music was already spurned. By the age of ten, he was already playing piano and at fourteen, he was already playing in the church. He took it a step further by learning music production at the age of sixteen. By this period, he was already producing for gospel singers around Nigeria.
Things took a turn for the better when Tolu Obanro met the revered movie director, Mr. Niyi Akinmolayan. The working relationship between the duo and other movie directors has birthed movies like Prophetess, House of Secrets, Mikolo, Hey, You, Charge and Bail, King of Thieves, The Man for the Job, and the recent Jagun Jagun.
Tolu Obanro’s work is also notable for originals like Gangs of Lagos by Jade Oshiberu, and House of Secrets by Niyi Akinmolayan with some international involvement in movies like NINE and more.
Last month, I was on Afrocritik’s Twitter space. Tolu gave the listeners a glimpse of the rigorous ways his sounds in the movies are rated. Some were created on the movie locations while others had to be created by an orchestra of percussionists. It just shows the level of seriousness Tolu Obanro put into his craft.
From a boy born in Ilorin, who lived in Minna, and was nurtured by Lagos State, Tolu Obanro is all set for the global market. His attention to detail in movies is world-class, it has been noted to rival any movie in the world. Even his exceptional talent has not gone unnoticed as he won the Nigerians achievers award in 2022 and the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) have nominated him three times in the Best Soundtrack category in the prestigious continental awards.
and then