Toby Love
Toby Love | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Octavio Rivera |
Also known as | Soul Love |
Born | The Bronx, New York, U.S. | March 20, 1985
Genres |
|
Occupation(s) |
|
Instrument(s) | Vocals |
Years active | 1999–present |
Labels |
|
Toby Love (born Octavio Rivera; March 20, 1985) is an
Early life
Toby Love was born in
Career
Working with Aventura (1999–2005)
Max, offered Love the opportunity to work with Aventura and he accepted. He started working with the group in 1999 as a backup vocalist and additional percussionist.[5] His voice was featured in the groups seconds album, We Broke the Rules, for the songs "I Believe (Yo Creo)", "Mi Puerto Rico", and "Gone", which is a bachata cover of an NSYNC's song.[6]
Becoming his own artist, Debut album, and Love is Back (2006–2009)
In 2006, Love left the group to embark on his own career as an artist. He signed with
On July 17, 2007, he released a remix version of the album titled Toby Love: Reloaded. It featured collaborations with
On May 20, 2008, he released the first single for his second album, "Llorar Lloviendo". On the Billboard charts, it peaked at number 22 on the Hot Latin Songs chart, at number 7 on the Latin Rhythm Airplay chart, and at number 2 on the Tropical Airplay. The single was certified Gold in the U.S. by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). On July 21, 2008, he released Love Is Back.[8] It included the single "Amor Primero". The album featured collaborations with BHaze, Sopranito, and Magic Juan. It peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Tropical Albums chart.
La Voz De La Juventud, Amor Total, Bachata Nation (2010–2017)
On July 26, 2010, he released the first single for his third studio album "Te Parece Poco". On January 9, 2011, he released the second single "Casi Casi". It peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Latin Pop Airplay chart. On February 14, 2011, he released its third single "Quizás" and featured Mexican singer Yuridia. All 3 singles peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Tropical Airplay chart. On May 10, 2011, he released his third studio album La Voz De La Juventud.[9] It featured collaborations with Del Blokke and Yuridia. It peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Tropical Albums chart. On March 19, 2012, he released his first and only compilation album Mis Favoritos. It was released by Sony Music Latin as part of a series of compilation albums involving other famous and successful artists. This would be the last album with Sony Music as Love would no longer be part of the company as of late 2012.
In 2012, he signed with Sergio George's Top Stop Music.[10] He released the music video for his first single under the new label titled Lejos as the main single for his fourth studio album on February 21, 2012. The audio-only version was released on August 21, 2012. It peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Tropical Airplay chart. Its second singled peaked at number 1 on the same chart. It was a Spanglish bachata cover of Michael Jackson's 1987 single, I Just Can't Stop Loving You. Jackson has a Spanish version titled "Todo Mi Amor Eres Tu" ("All My Love Is You"), which is the title of Love's cover of the song. Love titled it as "Todo Mi Amor Eres Tu (I Just Can't Stop Loving You)" and the music video was released on April 2, 2013. The audio only version was released on April 5, 2013, on iTunes and on every other streaming platform on April 8, 2013. On May 7, 2013, he released his fourth studio album Amor Total. It featured a collaboration with Reggae artist Dynasty. It peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Tropical Albums chart. The album also featured the song "Hay", which was later released as a single in 2014.
On May 27, 2014, he released the first single for his fifth studio album, "El Aire Que Respiro". It peaked at number 8 on the
More singles and conversion to Christianity (2018–present)
Love had continued to release more singles between 2018 and 2020. On July 2, 2021, he released his first Christian single titled "Jesus Te Amo" (Jesus I Love You). He was going under the name Tobiah.
Artistry
His musical influences include Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Lauryn Hill, Pitbull, Antony Santos, Juan Luis Guerra, Héctor Lavoe, and Ricky Martin, which had inspired Love to produce the mixture of Latin pop and R&B into bachata in his songs. He was also inspired by Crunk, a hip-hop music subgenre while recording half of his debut album in Miami. Love became a fan of Crunk Hip-Hop music. He incorporated it into his bachata music, thus creating the subgenre Crunkchata.[1] Love produces the majority of the music used in his albums, along with co-producer Eddie Perez.[2][11][3][6][5]
Legacy
Toby Love is recognized as the artist who made the subgenre of crunkchata popular.[1] His eponymous debut studio album is the only bachata album ever to be awarded Latin Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year at the 2007 Latin Billboard Music Awards. His debut single "Tengo Un Amor", was his most successful song and elevated him to stardom. Since then he has released more hits, including 5 number 1 singles on the Billboard Tropical Airplay chart. He was dubbed as La Voz de la Juventud (The Voice of the Youth).
Personal life
In addition to living in New York, Toby Love also spends his time between homes in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and New Jersey.[1] Love hopes to begin working as an actor, in addition to his career as a musician.[1]
Discography
Studio albums
- Toby Love (Sony BMG, 2006)
- Love Is Back (Sony BMG, 2008)
- La Voz De La Juventud (Sony Music, 2011)
- Amor Total (Top Stop Music, 2013)
- Bachata Nation (Elegant Records, 2016)
Compilation albums
- Mis Favoritas (Sony Music, 2012)
Singles
Year | Single | Chart positions[12] | Album | Certifications | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US | U.S. Latin | U.S. Latin Trop
|
U.S. Latin Pop | ||||
2006 | "Tengo Un Amor" | 100
|
2
|
3
|
25
|
Toby Love
|
• U.S. RIAA certification: 2× Platinum[13] |
"Don't Cry (La Niña Que Soñé)" | —
|
13
|
22
|
—
|
|||
2007 | "Amores Como El Tuyo" | —
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
||
2008 | "Llorar Lloviendo" | —
|
22
|
2
|
36
|
Love is Back
|
• U.S. RIAA certification: Gold[14] |
"Amor Primero" | —
|
—
|
—
|
—
|
|||
2010 | "Te Parece Poco" | —
|
—
|
15
|
—
|
La Voz de la Juventud
|
|
2011 | "Casi Casi" | —
|
—
|
15
|
31
|
||
"Quizás" (featuring Yuridia) | —
|
—
|
15
|
—
|
|||
2012 | "Lejos" | —
|
36
|
2
|
36
|
Amor Total
|
|
2013 | "Todo Mí Amor Eres Tú" | —
|
29
|
1
|
17
|
||
2014 | "Hey" | —
|
43
|
1
|
37
|
||
"El Aire Que Respiro" | —
|
—
|
8
|
—
|
Bachata Nation
|
||
2015 | "We Never Looking Back (feat. French Montana)" | —
|
—
|
1
|
—
|
||
"Vestida De Blanco" | —
|
—
|
1
|
—
|
|||
2016 | "No Le Eches La Culpa" | —
|
—
|
1
|
—
|
Featurings
- Tito El Bambino : La Busco
- Alexis & Fido - Soy Igual Que Tu
- Chosen Few Movement - Grind It Up (featuring Toby Love & Lumidee)
- Omega - Tu No Ta Pa Mi (Remix)
- Magic Juan - La Otra Noche
- Aventura - I Believe (Yo Creo) & Gone
- Javi G - Por Qué? (Toby Love y Mikey)
- Tony CJ - Mi Primer Amor (Salsa Version)
- Fanny Lu - Y Si Te Digo (Bachata, 2007)
References
- ^ a b c d e f Latin Music Interview: "Toby Love Becomes the Voice of the Youth"
- ^ a b "Toby Love Coming to Los Angeles To Promote His New Album". Archived from the original on October 13, 2012.
- ^ a b Otero, Navani (October 3, 2006). "nocheLatina - Q&A Sessions: Toby Love". nocheLatina. Archived from the original on April 13, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
- ^ "Ex integrante de Aventura, Toby Love, presenta credenciales en el Centro de Arte & Comunicación Celinés Toribio". El Nuevo Diario. December 15, 2006. Archived from the original on April 12, 2015. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ a b Donelson, Marcy. "Toby Love - Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
- ^ a b "Toby Love to Become First Spanish Singing Artist to Perform at Van Andel Arena". Van Andel Arena Insider. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
- ^ Billboard Staff (April 27, 2007). "2007 Billboard Latin Music Awards Winners". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013.
- ^ People Staff. "Toby Love: "The bachata of the future."". People en Español. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
- ^ Dante (April 2, 2011). "Toby Love Becomes the Voice of the Youth". Latin Rapper. Archived from the original on March 24, 2017.
- ^ That's Dominican Staff (February 10, 2011). "TOBY LOVE FIRMA CON SELLO DISCOGRAFICO TOP STOP MUSIC". That's Dominican (in Spanish).
- ^ "Toby Love: "The bachata of the future."". People en Español. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
- ^ "Toby Love Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
- ^ "American single certifications – Toby Love – Tengo Un Amor". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
- ^ "American single certifications – Toby Love – Llorar Lloviendo". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved May 22, 2018.