Review: TOBi & Flo Milli Heat Up in Dynamic, Impassioned “Family Matters” Reboot

TOBi © Stanislaw
TOBi © Stanislaw
A passionate, heated outpouring from the heart, TOBi’s new single “Family Matters” featuring Flo Milli captures what’s important in life in a dynamic, expressive song full of fire and flow.
Stream: “Family Matters” – TOBi ft. Flo Milli




Family is so much more than a concept or a construct, and on his latest single with Flo Milli, TOBi has made sure we know exactly what FAMILY means to him: They’re your people; your life; the ones you’d drop anything for if asked, and those whom you’ll gladly give your whole world. A passionate, heated outpouring from the heart, “Family Matters” captures what’s important in life in a dynamic, expressive song full of fire and flow. It’s a tribute to, a dedication for, and a powerful statement of the love we feel for our family: One that goes deeper, and means more, than anything else in this world.

Family Matters - TOBi ft. Flo Milli
Family Matters – TOBi ft. Flo Milli
They been denying me baby
Trying my sobriety lately
My sober unchauffeur she driving me crazy
I do this for us Don’t you lie to me baby (2x)
They been Denying me baby
Society trying my sobriety lately
My chauffeur unsober she driving me crazy
I do this for us Don’t you lie to me baby
I do anything for the loves of my life yeah
My mother brothers my baby daughter and wife

Released April 29 via Same Plate / RCA Records, “Family Matters” featuring Flo Milli adds fresh depth and character to an already expressive, meaningful song. Originally featured on  TOBi’s two-time Juno Award nominated record ELEMENTS, Vol. 1 (released October 21, 2020), “Family Matters” tells it like it is atop a sparse, repeating piano line and cool drum accompaniment.

Atwood Magazine previously highlighted TOBi’s single “Made Me Everything,” also taken off ELEMENTS, Vol. 1, praising it as a dramatic and soulful overhaul of obstacles and anything else that might be standing in the way: “Unapologetic and impassioned, the song highlights the singer and rapper’s clever and compelling wordplay, his effortless flow and toyings with rhythm and rhyme, and much more.”

TOBi © Stanislaw
TOBi © Stanislaw

“Family Matters” doesn’t feel quite so much like a celebration, as it does an affirmation of TOBi’s loyalties. The music builds a kind of unresolved tension around the listening experience as TOBi, and now Flo Milli, reckon with the trials and tribulations of family.

10 mo 10 mo miles In the snow
Tank on e but I’m still on Go
Always on road but it feel like home
Boys want ball but they injury prone
Can’t play me when I’m really the coach
Max contract for mе and my folk
Fuck it imma do the most
Fuck it imma do the most 
Gone off the Kelly’s now we get shit Rolling
I know the going get tough
And Then the tough get going
Body rolling in slow motion…
Got you working off the perfect potion
Mona Lisa Moaning
She been hoping for
She Dancing to the strobe light
Hallelu
Back and forth make a move
Where you been all my life
While my eyes open Nah
Closed for sure
Speaking of Clothes are off
Ripping off my undergarments
I’m gone Probably
Drawers dropping
Jaws dropping
Service gone
The calls dropping
Head long I caught bodies
Autopsy Dog watch me
Only thing that’s missing is the middle man
Damn
ELEMENTS Vol. 1 - TOBi
ELEMENTS Vol. 1 – TOBi

“‘Family Matters’ is what’s important to me,” TOBi tells Atwood Magazine. “The intro and hook are the reasons why I work so hard: I’ll do anything for the loves of my life. It’s a big part of my motivations, same with my friends and people I work with.”

“But the road is not easy and no man is perfect, so it’s about finding out how to navigate this game of life properly while staying true to self. It’s a lot of distractions, enemies, obstacles on the way, so it’s a constant challenge. I’m not afraid to fail in public or stumble because I know what I’m doing is bigger than me. The road may start feeling like home, and friends may start looking like foes so it’s important to stay true and keep going. Also, stopping to smell the flowers is important. Flo MIlli killed the verse too, she came into the world perfectly. To have [her] on the record is a dope connection, and her bars fit perfectly for the track.”

This life is complex. I wrote it from the perspective of a working man trying to get it all for his loved ones but still faced with daily vices and inner struggles. Temptations.

Rising steadily over the past five years, TOBi has never sounded stronger or more self-assured as he does in ELEMENTS, Vol. 1. A diverse array of hip-hop, grime, Afrobeats, soul, R&B, and more come together with striking finesse as the artist spills his soul through ten songs that fit just right. “Family Matters” is a pillar in that journey of the self – a reckoning and a recognition, and in some ways, a defiance: Life will try to trip him up, but TOBi remains devoted to his loved ones. Flo Milli’s animated verse only adds to an already intense environment as the Alabama-born rapper weaves her own strong front.

Fuck it I’ma do the most
The Zeno brand is bombing on my coach
Setting trends bitch I’m really the G.O.A.T
Watch your kids don’t be watching my pose
Ain’t see the vision, they took me as a joke
They used to laugh, now I’m giving them hope
Can’t put me out when I’m really the coach
Tank on full, I speed off in a Ghost
Somebody tell these hoes, I ain’t nothing to play with
Top notch, I’m that bitch and you hate it
Life’s good I can’t do no complaining
Boss shit, he know I’m far from basic
Can’t trust a soul gotta watch who you hang with
Will never fall ’cause I always have patience
Money the only thing that I’ve been chasing me in
(Money the only thing that I’ve been chasing me in)

Together, TOBi and Flo Milli have brought us back to “Family Matters” once again, zeroing in on its message of loyalty and commitment with resounding fortitude. Give this song your eyes, and let it take you to your own personal space where you can ask yourself, Who do I care about most in this life?

10 mo 10 mo miles In the snow
Tank on e but I’m still on Go
Always on road but it feel like home
Boys want ball but they injury prone
Can’t play me when I’m really the coach
Max contract for me and my folk
Fuck it imma do the most
Fuck it imma do the most 
I do anything for the loves of my life yeah
My mother brother my baby daughter and wife

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:: stream/purchase “Family Matters” here ::
Stream: “Family Matters” – TOBi ft. Flo Milli



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Family Matters - TOBi

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