Tobi shares 4 books that shaped his life and music
The Canadian rapper's latest album Panic will be released on Oct. 12
When asked which books shaped him, Lagos-born, Brampton-raised rapper Tobi pulled out a small, frayed, dark green hardcover notebook with the words "Don't Forget To Live" scrawled in Sharpie.
He flips through the pages — filled with a variety of writings in different coloured pens, markers and pencils. The book has accompanied Tobi all around the world over the past two years.
"Wherever I travel to, I get somebody to write a quote in there," he said in a recent interview with CBC Books. "There's things in here that are just hilarious — and there's things that are really profound, too."
Tobi is a musician best known for his 2020 album, Elements, Vol. 1, which won a Juno for Rap Recording of the Year and was shortlisted for the 2021 Polaris Prize. His song Holiday was also nominated for a Juno for contemporary R&B/soul recording of the year in 2021.
In honour of his latest album, Panic, Tobi spoke with CBC Books about the books that made him the artist and person he is today.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
"That's the first series that got me in the game. I remember I was like eight years old when I first touched that book series and … mind blown. I read the whole series and it was amazing.
I remember I was like eight years old when I first touched that book series and… mind blown.- Tobi
"I think I related to him [Edmund] because he wasn't like the star, you know what I mean? He was kind of rough around the edges and dealt with a lot of internal conflict. I just gravitated toward that character.
"And I was like, 'Yeah, if he can come out and actually emerge as a victor, then by all means.'"
The Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins
"This is one of my favourite books and I read it as an adult. It's a pretty simple book, but it's so interesting to me because it makes me appreciate how the world is really working, the subtleties and how magical our reality is, for lack of a better term."
The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker
"The reason why I love this book is that he talks about how language evolved with humanity and how every human being has the ability to form language and how language is kind of the reason why humans took over this planet. Because we could communicate and work together and cooperate. And it's not a difficult book either. I don't have to have a linguistics degree to understand it.
He talks about how language evolved with humanity and how every human being has the ability to form language and how language is kind of the reason why humans took over this planet.- Tobi
"It helps me realize that even though my music is mostly in English, there's people across the world that may not speak English, but they still memorize the lyrics.
"Even though they may not know what it means, I still feel like subconsciously they can kind of denote what's happening."
The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop
"I'm reading it right now, but I love this book so far. It's a compilation of poems, but based on hip-hop. It talks about how hip-hop artists are poets and how rap artists have moved poetry from like this classical, kind of upscale place to an accessible format for everybody.
"[With hip-hop], there's a lack of form sometimes, there's a lack of attention to rules and details, but it still makes sense."
Tobi's comments have been edited for length and clarity.
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