There’s a special kind of return that happens when an artist comes home not to start over, but to continue the story.

For Ife Ogunjobi, the Grammy Award–winning trumpeter and composer from South-East London, that return feels less like a comeback and more like a circle completing itself.

Fresh off a show-stopping performance at Pre-Felabration 2025, he’s back in Lagos, the city that shaped his rhythm, for an exclusive listening session of his upcoming sophomore EP, Tell Them, I’m Here. It’s more than a title; it’s a declaration.

“I wanted this record to feel like a conversation between Lagos and London,” Ife says. “It’s a love letter to where I come from and the sounds that continue to guide me.”

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The Sound of Two Cities

Born to Nigerian parents and raised in South-East London, Ife’s story is one of dual belonging. In his sound, Fuji percussion meets London jazz, Afrobeat horns meet soul chords, and the street energy of Peckham blends with the spiritual pulse of Lagos. He’s part of a new generation of global musicians who don’t just play across genres, they live across them. His horn doesn’t announce itself; it speaks. Sometimes it prays. Sometimes it remembers. Across five tracks, Tell Them, I’m Here moves through textures that feel both ancestral and future-forward. Its second single, “Cali” featuring Samm Henshaw, is a lush fusion of London jazz, British rap, and Afrobeat rhythm, a sonic bridge between continents and moods. It’s the sound of diaspora as dialogue: Lagos calling, London answering.

The Journey So Far

Before the world knew his name, Ife was a kid in South-East London learning trumpet at Tomorrow’s Warriors, a community space that gave rise to the UK’s jazz renaissance. He grew up on Fela’s horns, Lagbaja’s masks, Fuji drums, and the pulse of grime, all of which echo quietly through his music today. As a member of Ezra Collective, he’s performed on some of the world’s biggest stages, Madison Square Garden, Glastonbury, Montreux Jazz Festival, Accor Arena, and We Out Here Festival. The band’s Mercury Prize-winning album Where I’m Meant to Be didn’t just win accolades; it signaled a generational shift, young Black British musicians redefining what jazz can be.

But Ife’s story is also his own. His solo work, from Stay True to Tell Them, I’m Here, marks his evolution from sideman to bandleader, from ensemble player to storyteller.

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The Return Home

When Ife hosts his Lagos listening session at Sony/The Orchard’s Lagos office on October 16, 2025, it will be more than an industry event. It’s a reunion, between sound and soil, between diaspora and home. He describes Tell Them, I’m Here as an act of self-assurance, a project that stands at the intersection of memory, mastery, and motion. It’s what happens when you learn that you don’t have to choose between where you’re from and where you’re going. In Lagos, his trumpet feels like it’s speaking its first language again.

Legacy in Progress

Ife’s path mirrors a broader narrative, one where the children of migration return, not as tourists, but as translators. He carries Nigeria in his melody wherever he plays, from Wizkid’s live band to Burna Boy’s tours to Dave’s orchestral hip-hop sets. His career has become a bridge, between jazz and Afrobeats, the stage and the street, Lagos and London. The trumpet is both weapon and witness; through it, Ife Ogunjobi tells the world that Nigerian music doesn’t need to fit one genre to be global. Tell Them, I’m Here is the message and the proof.

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In the end, Ife’s music isn’t about return, it’s about recognition.

Of heritage. Of self. Of sound. He’s not just coming home. He’s bringing the world with him.

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