Ogi

For as pensive and reserved as Ogi may be in everyday life, the Los Angeles-based Nigerian-American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist speaks her mind when she sings. Growing up in Wisconsin, she played viola and joined jazz choir in high school and listened to everyone from J. Moss, Mary Mary, and Bebe & CeCe Winans to Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone, and T-Pain. Meanwhile, mom and dad played Culture, Bob Marley, and Nigerian highlife music. Recognizing her sense of perfect pitch, she experimented with piano and guitar. During college at Northwestern University, she performed in an acapella group and composed demos in GarageBand. Just prior to senior year, she began to post covers on Instagram, starting with a ukulele and vocal cover of Musiq Soulchild’s “Just Friends (Sunny).” Her take on PJ Morton’s “Alright” caught fire when PJ posted it on his page, and GRAMMY® Award-winning producer No I.D. [JAY-Z, John Mayer, Kanye West] took notice. She finished her final year at school and moved to L.A. Working in the studio with No I.D., she cultivated a soulful style of her own equally informed by that lifelong connection to harmony, eclectic resonances, and expressive intonation. She ultimately taps into a spirit agnostic of era yet connected to any age. Now, she expresses who she is through every note on a series of singles and her 2022 debut.