Blessing Offor is a 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.
Blessing Offor is a Nigerian, born with almost whole blindness in one of his eyes. However, his companionate parents, with hopes that they could do everything possible to help save his sight predicament, made the regrettable decision to allow a 6-year-old Blessing relocate to America with his Uncle to be able to get medical treatment at Yale Medical Center.
Blessing endured several eye surgeries in the first few years, but his charming nature and his contagious smile never left him for once.
It was while playing at the backyard of his uncle’s house with a couple of his friends that blessing accidentally made contacts with an object that took away hi remaining good eye; this was when he was 10 years old. After that horrible incident, blessing became disappointed at life and even became concerned if at all his parents will ever see anything good in him. But instead of allowing his predicament rule his life, Blessing passionately began to learn other skills and discovered his ability to connect with others through music.
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The first time Blessing’s parents watched him sing was on The Voice. For Voice fans (I admit it is our favorite family show!) he got a four-chair turn and was on Team Pharell and then Team Adam. Blessings parents had never heard him sing until the moment his Voice was blasted out to the world on primetime television.
Blessing spent 20years abroad and is now ready to return home. He was determined to make his family proud of him through singing and to thank his family for the wonderful life they have provided for him. While speaking with a collogue in the train, he said: everyone has something; I would rather have my challenge be visible to everyone than have a challenge in my head or my heart.
we know for sure that Blessing is indeed a blessing to the word via his gifts and more installed inside of him.
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What happened to Blessing?
Blessing left Nigeria when he was age six with five older siblings to live with his uncle in Connecticut. Glaucoma affected and blinded him on one eye, and his mom and dad felt he might get better medical care in the United States. Again, he lost sight in the other eye at ten-years-old due to a water gun accident.
Blessing nevertheless ventured into music, he was inspired by the likes of 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.”
His recent album My Tribe, which comprises of soul, pop, R&B, and African styles was cooked from his life experience abroad, mixed with the blend of various music styles he had embraced.
“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.”
With such a dynamic background, he didn’t have to look far for inspiration. “My Tribe is the sheer reality of my personal experience,” he elaborates. “I wanted to make a record that was true and honest to me being born in Nigeria, growing up in Connecticut, attending Belmont University, living in Los Angeles for a bit, and all of the things that represent my life.”
To honor his roots, the album is thread together with three unique recordings including a phone call with his uncle who translates an old Nigerian tune “Akwa Uwa.”
“When I came to the States, there were a lot of memories from home,” he says. “Naturally, you keep some of them, and others fall by the wayside.Since the album was so personal, I wanted to speak to my family right at the beginning. I sang ‘Akwa Uwa’, and my uncle got on the phone with me to translate it. ‘Akwa Uwa’ means ‘Tears for the World’. I sprinkled the call through the album so there’s no doubt of who I am, where I come from, and who I do all of this for.”
He has never forgotten where he came from, and it’s part of why the music feels so rich.
FAQs – Blessing Offor
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Blessing Offor is a Nigerian-born, Connecticut-raised, and Nashville-based singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Blessing Offor speaks to relatable experiences of struggle, triumph, life, and love from a distinctive perspective as
