Tope Alabi is an icon of Nigerian gospel music, who has blessed us with many great songs. The history of Tope Alabi climbing up the career ladder and becoming a widely recognized gospel singer is truly inspiring for all of us. Dive into the exciting Tope Alabi biography and discover brand new information about her!
Tope Alabi – who is this woman and why is she such an inspiration?
This lady is known all over Nigeria for her enlightening and relaxing gospel songs that have already become her brand. She has won many awards for singing and composing. Her songs show us that there is always hope for the better.
Tope Alabi is also a loving wife and mother. Want to know more about Tope Alabi? We have gathered all the relevant information about her for you.
How old is Tope Alabi?
The talented gospel singer Tope Alabi was born on October 27th, 1970. Currently, she is 47 years old. Her birthplace is Lagos State, Nigeria, and this is where her journey to success and fame started.
Biography of Tope Alabi
The full name of Tope Alabi is Patricia Temitope Alabi, she was born in Lagos State, but her state of origin is Yewa, Imeko, in Ogun State. She was born in the family of Joseph Akinyele Obayomi and Agnes Kehinde Obayomi. Tope was the only daughter among her siblings – she had two brothers.
Tope remembered that her mother always loved singing at home, and she often heard her quietly singing to herself, even though she never was a professional singer or a choir member. She said that her mother first wanted her to become a reverend sister because she had a vision about her daughter being God’s minister. However, she realized this is not what was meant by these words, and decided not to put Tope in the convent.
Tope has fond memories of her mother, who passed away this year. According to the singer, ]acashe always kept her on the right path and disciplined her. She also gave her very valuable life advice. Despite the fact that their family was not the richest, her mother always reserved enough money for upbringing her children and buying necessary things for them. Tope calls her mother a wonderful woman and a prayer warrior.
When Tope was little, she often envisioned herself singing in the stadiums, with crowds of people listening to her. She started singing when she was very young, and at the age of seven, she joined the choir in her local Catholic church.
She says that she discovered her talent and passion for singing through messages from God in her sleep. She also understood that this is what she has to do in life, even if she has other passions, for instance, acting or comedy.
Education and first career steps
Tope received her basic primary and secondary education in Ibadan, at the Akinyele Memorial High School. The future star obtained her WAEC Certificate in 1986. Then, she went on to study at the Polytechnic University in Ibadan, where she received a degree in Mass Communication in 1990.
Between 1982 and 1984, Tope discovered her interest in music and drama. She joined the group called “Jesters International”, who trained her and gave her the drama experience. She also worked as a correspondent at NTA, supervised by Yanju Adegbite. Later, after her university graduation, she worked at the NTA Channel 10. Her next job was Centerspread Advertising Limited, which was situated in the Ilupeju area in Lagos.
She decided to return to theatre profession, as she became a part of the prestigious theatre group “Alade Aromire Theatre Group”. It happened in 1994. She got a chance to express herself as a talented singer and actress and truly started believing in herself. Tope Alabi became exposed to the main ideas of the acting and drama.
She got involved in the different movie productions along with the stage drama and the making soundtracks. Tope Alabi is still really grateful to the Alade Aromire Theatre Group because this experience helped her to express herself and expose her talent to the masses, as well as find out more about the Yoruba industry of soundtrack production.
Tope Alabi’s music
The singer’s catchy gospel tunes first gained prominence more than a decade ago, and to this day, people consider her one of Nigeria’s gospel music geniuses. Tope Alabi is able to do everything with her music – she has a unique and recognizable voice, she can create a few melodies by combining the modern and traditional beats. She has got a few songs in the Yoruba language to the tunes of salsa, makossa, and hip-hop styles.
In general, Tope Alabi has eight albums. Her first album came out in 2001 and was called “Ore ti o common”. Four years later, in 2005, she graced the listeners with her next album “Agbara Re Ni”.
In 2007, the third album “Angeli Ni” came out. After that, Tope Alabi released three more albums: “Kokoro Igbala” (2008), “Kabio o si” (2010), and the latest one “Agbelebu” (2012). A few of her most popular and bestselling songs are “E Gbe Ga”, “Mino L’Oluwa”, “Angeli Mi”, and “Olorun Gbangba”.
She has written a massive number of soundtracks for various movie productions in Nollywood – in total, there are over 350 soundtracks where she is credited as a composer. Many famous producers and directors in Nollywood always turn to Tope Alabi whenever they need original soundtracks for their movie. In Nollywood, Tope is considered to be a trendsetter of soundtracks.
Tope Alabi says that she would like to produce a few movies that she has great ideas for, but so far, she does not have enough time for them. She has an extremely tight schedule. Still, she promised that once she has more spare time, she will go back to these productions.
Tope says that no matter how tight her schedule is, she still has enough time to rest. She has free Mondays and Wednesdays, and she uses these opportunities to have a break from all the work. Sometimes she also has free weekends, even though it does not happen as often as she would like it.
From time to time, she goes to the market and cooks food for her family. Her favourite meals are amala and efo riro, and her favourite drink is coke. According to her, it is really important to rest from your business, because even God who created the world had a rest on the seventh day. In her free time, she listens to music, watches TV programs, and communicates with her family.
The favourite vacation destination of the singer is the United States. Sometimes she works there, but if her work requires staying for two weeks or more, she always adds another week to have an opportunity to relax. She also visits Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland regularly, but this is mostly for business.
Tope Alabi says that she always has to carry a pen and a piece of paper with her because God often sends her ideas for the new songs and she gets inspired for songwriting.
Nigeria’s favourite gospel singer always pray prior to singing in front of the public. The duration of her prayers is different every time, depending on what God dictates. Tope Alabi says that she has never had a performance without a prayer and that God greatly helps her to deliver the high-class inspiring music to her listeners.
Tope Alabi controversies
Since this musician is really famous, the controversies surrounding her were almost unavoidable. For instance, Tope Alabi was once accused of having an intimate relationship with pastor Ajanaku, who was her spiritual father at the church that she regularly attended.
Alabi denied them and say that there was nothing more than friendship between them. Besides, a few years before Ajanaku’s death in 2014, Tope and him fell out and were not as close anymore as they used to be.
Tope Alabi’s husband
The gospel artiste has been happily married to her husband Soji Alabi for many years. Their love story began in 1994 when Soji was a studio engineer in Lagos and got a chance to produce some movie soundtracks for Tope. The two instantly fell in love, and four years later, in 1998, Soji proposed marriage to Tope. .
Soji and Tope have a business together, but according to them, they have never quarreled over business issues, and have understood each other perfectly. They also thank God for making them realize that two people in business are better than one, and when you see the benefits of it, running your business together with the spouse becomes much easier.
Soji also says that he never worries about the gossips about Tope in the media because he knows his wife very well and is certain that the rumors about her are untrue.
Tope Alabi’s daughter
The singer has two beautiful daughters – Ayomikun and Deborah. Ayomikun, the oldest daughter is 19 years old, followed the steps of her mother and went to study music at the Bowen University in Iwo, Osun State.
When talking about her mother, Ayomikun says that she likes the fact that her songs are all genuine and inspired by God. Her favourite song of Tope Alabi is “Mumi debe, baba mumi debe”. According to Ayomiku, she does not feel pressured at school because her mother is famous, and achieves everything with her own efforts.
Ayomiku describes her mother as a funny person who can always make everyone laugh. As for her younger sister, Deborah, she is currently a student at a secondary school.
Tope Alabi is an example and inspiration for every person who wants to have an accomplished career, be a good spouse and parent. She has time for everything, from meeting her fans to spending quiet time with her family.
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