About this episode
On today's episode, we chat with Blessing Offor! Blessing Offor speaks to relatable experiences of struggle, triumph, life, and love from a distinctive perspective as a Nigerian-born, Connecticut-raised, and Nashville-based singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Exhibiting virtuosic piano ability, honest songwriting, and a showstopping voice, his musical fluency and creative foresight are unmatched only made more inspiring by his journey. With five older siblings, Blessing left Nigeria at just six years old to live with his uncle in Connecticut. Glaucoma left him blind in one eye, and Mom and Dad felt he might find better medical care in the United States. He lost sight in the other eye at ten years old due to a water gun accident. Nevertheless, Blessing dove into music. He devoured classics by Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Commodores, and Barry White. He was even allowed to listen to Eminem under one condition – “If I said any of the words, my uncle would take it away,” he laughs. From a young age, Blessing had the natural ability to learn music by ear, developing incredible skill while quickly building his musical index. “Seeing things differently—no pun intended—helps me elucidate concepts in ways people aren’t used to,” he notes. “Everybody has a different filter and a place they come from. My place was, ‘Oh man, my vision is terrible . ’ It was frustrating early on, but it trained my ear.” Now, this international upbringing, unbelievable journey, quiet grind, and confluence of styles define his 2023 debut full-length album, My Tribe , that brings together soul, pop, R&B, and African styles in service of a universal sound—which he fittingly dubs “the genre of humanity . ” “All of the elements on this record come together to make one whole human,” he observes. “We all have a little bit of spirituality, a little bit of pain, and a little bit of joy. These lyrics are my words from my life. Musically, there’s a lot of who I am! Last but not least, I wasn’t afraid to be honest. There are some heartbreak songs, and there are some more ambiguous songs. This is music for the world. This is music for every universal feeling we have regardless of who we are. Ultimately, I tried to make a life record.”