November 9, 2026 |
If you’re a fan of the screen or stage, you’ll likely already know Theo Ogundipe. The Nigerian-born, London-raised actor played Ruben in the beloved series Top Boy, as well as roles in Mickey 17, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and The Hunger Games: On Stage at the Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre. Now he’s stepping out of character and diving into music with In Transit, his debut EP, out now.
He calls it “a diary of my journey thus far,” and that’s exactly what it is: seven tracks about wins, losses, love and belief, set against his experience as a Black man in Britain. He taught himself to produce, blending rap with soul, R&B and electronic sounds for a record that distinctly identifies Ogundipe as as a producer, rapper, singer and songwriter. The lead single I.T. sets out his mission over hard-hitting drums, whilst tracks like OFB are bold and experimental. Friends and fellow actor-musicians Sheila Atim, Jennifer Saayeng and Danusia Samal add guest vocals, adding an extra layer to a record that marks Ogundipe at his most unguarded.
Here, he talks more about learning to produce, his dream collaborators and what track on the EP was the hardest to finish.
1. How would you describe In Transit in three words?
I would describe In Transit as avant-garde, Afro futuristic and cosmic.
2. You produced the whole EP yourself. What’s one thing you learnt about making music that you didn’t know before?
I would say of the myriad of things I learnt, I learnt how much of an exercise in reduction making music can be. Figuring out how to reduce and place sounds and moments in a piece of music so the whole piece has space and clarity needed to feel what you are trying to express.
3. What’s the best thing about making music after years of acting?
I love acting. It’s my life as well as music, and I owe so much to my acting career. One of the things I would say music offers me is more autonomy. Especially considering I create everything. It allows me ownership of the whole creative experience.
4. If you had to save one track off of In Transit from a burning building, what would it be and why?
This is a brutal question, they are all my children. I would save L.A., because I made certain strides in my production by that point, that was one of the last songs I produced. It is a mix of in the box production and live instrumentation, and the blend is beautiful. Definitely a style I will be working with moving forward.
5. Who is your dream collaborator?
I would love to work with Labrinth, I met him in Drama school, his studio was opposite. He would always offer me to come up, I never found the time. It’s one of my biggest regrets.
6. What’s one track from another artist you’ve had on repeat recently?
Kehlani No Such Thing. I think it’s a perfect song. A beautiful nostalgic hark back to the best of 90’s RnB.
7. Who’s the first person you play a new song to?
Outside of my engineer Adam, I would say my cousins Mike and Dan. They’re thoughts are always spot on.
8. What do you want people to feel when they listen to In Transit?
I would love people to feel inspired, musically sated and with the deep seated feeling anything is possible.
9. Which track on the EP was the hardest to finish?
I think the hardest track to finish would be PIF and in many ways I still don’t feel I have finished it. There are so many elements and ideas in it, both sonically and creatively. To harken back to the reduction idea, I struggled to find the right places for all it encompasses. But it was a beautiful challenge.
10. What are you most excited about with this upcoming chapter?
Of course there is so much. I am excited about sharing my music with the world. Opening the doors so I can finally feel the artistic exchange with people. I am also excited by the fact that because I have opened the doors, I can now release more music. I have so much more music I am excited to share. This is just the beginning. I look forward to having a group of supporters to be accountable to, and I vow to give the best of my art from here on out in every respect.
Photography by Kiera Smith. ‘In Transit’ is available on all major platforms now.
