Jacob “Otile Brown” Obungo
Jacob Obungo, professionally known as Otile Brown, is a Kenyan R&B trailblazer whose velvety tenor and Swahili-English songwriting have redefined East African pop. Born in Mombasa in 1994, he burst onto the scene with the 2016 smash “Imaginary Love” featuring Khaligraph Jones, then cemented his star status through a string of melodic, story-driven singles such as “Baby Love,” “Chaguo La Moyo,” and “Dusuma,” each amassing well over 20 million YouTube views.
His debut compilation Best of Otile Brown (2017) captured the coastal-soul sound that would become his signature, while 2020’s Just in Love album broadened his palette with Afrobeats and amapiano infusions, spawning regional chart-toppers “Regina” and “Samantha.” The same year he launched Just in Love Music, nurturing talents like Jovial and Lexsil and striking distribution deals with Boomplay and Apple Music that pushed his cumulative streams past 250 million.
Brown’s live résumé now spans Koroga Festival, Trace Live, and sold-out arenas in Dar es Salaam and Kigali. He has collaborated with Meddy (Rwanda), Reekado Banks (Nigeria), and South Africa’s DJ Maphorisa, underscoring his pan-African reach. Offstage he funds music-tech workshops for coastal youth and serves as a UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador, using his platform to advocate for adolescent health and gender equality.