Olurotimi Akinosho (born November 30, 1988), known professionally as Rotimi, is an Nigerian-American actor and singer. He is known for his role as Darius Morrison on the

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...

series ''

Boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...

'', and as Andre Coleman on ''

Power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

''.

Early life and education

Rotimi was born in

Maplewood, New Jersey Maplewood is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is an inner-ring suburban bedroom community of New York City in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's populatio ...

and raised in a Nigerian household. He attended

Columbia High School Columbia High School may refer to: *Columbia High School (Huntsville, Alabama) *Columbia High School (Georgia) *Columbia High School (Florida) *Columbia High School (Idaho) *Columbia High School (Illinois) *Columbia High School (Mississippi), a Mis ...

, where he was on both the varsity basketball team and the choir. He continued his studies at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Communication with a minor in Business in 2010.

Career

Acting

At his first trial with acting, Rotimi auditioned and subsequently got his first acting role on ''

'' as drug dealer Darius Morrison.Rotimi Gives Power Season 3 Hints + Making Music with 50 Cent
YouTube (July 13, 2016). Retrieved January 12, 2017. Rotimi also appeared in three episodes of ABC's ''Betrayal''. Rotimi made his silver screen debut in the film ''

Black Nativity ''Black Nativity '' is an adaptation of the Nativity story by Langston Hughes, performed by an entirely black cast. Hughes was the author of the book, with the lyrics and music being derived from traditional Christmas carols, sung in gospel sty ...

'' (2013). Following this, he starred in ''

Imperial Dreams ''Imperial Dreams'' is an American drama film written and directed by Malik Vitthal. The film had its world premiere at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2014. It won the ''Audience Award'' at the festival. The film was released as a Netf ...

'' at the

2014 Sundance Film Festival The 2014 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 16, 2014 until January 26, 2014 in Park City, Utah, United States, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance Resort in Utah. The festival opened with ''Whiplash'' directed by Da ...

, which later won for "Best of NEXT". Rotimi next appeared in the high grossing film, ''Divergent'' (2014). In 2016 Rotimi also acted in the movie Deuces alongside Lance Gross and Larenz Tate. He was added to the cast of Starz' TV series ''

'' as a series regular, in the role of Andre Coleman, the quick-tempered young protégé of the character Ghost. Rotimi was also cast in a recurring role on ''

Battle Creek Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which encom ...

'' as Danny.

Music

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythm ...

artist, Rotimi released two digital mixtapes, titled ''The Resume'' (March 8, 2011) and ''While You Wait'' (November 30, 2011). His videos have been featured on international and U.S. based entertainment media including

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

MTV Base MTV Base was a British pay television music channel from Paramount Networks UK & Australia that focused primarily on hip hop, R&B, grime, garage, reggae, funk, soul and dance music. It was launched as part of MTV's digital boutique of music cha ...

, and

VH1 Soul BET Soul is an American pay television network that is controlled by the BET Networks division of Paramount Global, which owns the network. The channel showcases R&B, funk, soul, neo soul, hip hop, jazz and Motown music from various decades. T ...

. Rotimi has performed on stage, opening for

Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, and talk show host. Throughout her career, she has received various accolades for her works in recorded music, film, televisio ...

, T.I., Estelle, and

NERD A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly tec ...

; he also performed on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

's show ''

106 and Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rate ...

'' and appeared in R&B singer

Keyshia Cole Keyshia Myeshia Cole Johnson; born October 15, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Born and raised in Oakland, California, Cole began her career as a backing vocalist for MC Hammer. After signing with A&M Records ...

's music video "

Trust and Believe "Trust and Believe" is a song by R&B singer/songwriter Keyshia Cole. It serves as the second single from her fifth studio album, '' Woman to Woman'' and the follow-up to " Enough of No Love". It debuted on October 2, 2012 on Cole's official websi ...

" as Cole's unfaithful boyfriend. Rotimi garnered music placement with "I'm the One" on the first episode of ''

''. In 2015, American rapper and executive producer of ''Power'',

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

signed Rotimi to his label,

G-Unit Records G-Unit Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group. Founded in 2002 by rapper 50 Cent, for the first eleven years of operation, G-Unit ran in conjunction with, and was distributed by, Interscope Records. In February 2014, ...

. He also released his first G-Unit single "Lotto" featuring 50 Cent. In 2016, Rotimi released "Doin it", a single from his 5-track project, Summer Bangerz. In 2017 he released his debut EP called ''Jeep Music Vol. 1''. In 2019 he released a single titled "Love Riddim" which has garnered attention from both old fans and newly made ones.

Fashion

Rotimi is the lead model/spokesperson of rapper T.I.'s AKOO Clothing 2012 Spring/Summer campaign, April 2, 2012.

Personal life

On November 25, 2019, Rotimi shared a picture of himself and Tanzanian singer

Vanessa Mdee Vanessa Hau Mdee (born 7 June 1988), is a Tanzanian singer, rapper, television personality and radio host. Mdee is popularly known for being the first ever Tanzanian MTV VJ. She later rose to prominence as a radio and TV host, hosting ''Epic Bong ...

posing in an elevator, with Vanessa also confirming their relationship by posting the same picture with a different caption. Rotimi told the story of how the two met at a party and hit it off and Vanessa also said in an interview how she knew he was her husband, only two days after meeting him. In a video posted on Instagram with Rotimi who was later joined by Vanessa, the pair revealed that they both had tattoos of each other's name on their bodies; her (middle) name, Hau, on his right wrist and his name, Rotimi, on her chest. They also have matching tattoos of the number 1045 on their wrists. In December 2020, Rotimi got engaged to Vanessa.

Discography

Studio albums * ''All or Nothing'' (2021)

Filmography

Tours

* Don't Matter Tour (with

August Alsina August Anthony Alsina Jr.(April 8, 2013)R&B Singer August Alsina Talks Working With The Dream, Preps Def Jam Debut, ''Life + Times'' (confirms middle name; other sources confirm he is a "junior") (born September 3, 1992) is an American singer f ...

) (2017)

References

External links

* http://www.rotimimusic.com * {{Authority control Living people 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American singers American male models American people of Yoruba descent American male singer-songwriters American male television actors Columbia High School (New Jersey) alumni G-Unit Records artists Northwestern University School of Communication alumni People from Maplewood, New Jersey Singer-songwriters from New Jersey American people of Igbo descent Yoruba male actors Igbo male actors Yoruba musicians Igbo musicians Yoruba male models Igbo male models Male actors from New Jersey 1988 births 21st-century American male singers American contemporary R&B singers