“Music is the lens through which I see and most articulate way I communicate my truest and deepest feelings. I can hide how I’m feeling from the world and the people I love, but you can always catch me baring it all, in my songs.”
When Blessing saw a boy singing and playing the guitar at the bus stop on Elysian Field in New Orleans, her journey from Cross River State Nigeria where she hails, to the USA for her tertiary education, changed course. She taught herself to play the guitar and write songs in-between classes at Southern University at New Orleans where she obtained a first bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree in criminology.
Emerging from the New Orleans vibrant jazz scene, Blessing Tangban debuted an introspective, vulnerable and folky sound with her Debut EP Nowhere Girl in 2014, that opened us up to the world of a lost a fifteen-year-old Nigerian immigrant in America, starting college, falling in love, getting heartbroken and finding her faith.
Her LP Free, followed in 2017, during her return and stay in her country Nigeria, revealing a musician whose experience had been found and rooted in afro-folk melodies that remained vulnerable, lyrically intelligent, and enveloped in the fingerpicked sounds of her acoustic guitar.
For her next release in 2018, Blessing Tangban collaborated with Nigeria’s renowned musician Johnny Drille on Grow Up which launched Blessing on a career of international tours and festival performances within Nigeria, in South Africa, USA and Canada. Grow Up was also featured in the Netflix Movie, Weather for Two. Blessing’s second collaboration was with Africa’s most prolific rapper, M.I. Abaga in 2019 with the release of Insecure which was featured in the Amazon Prime movie, Still Falling.
In addition to collaborations with other musicians, Blessing won the Galaxy Music Award Award for best vocal performance on her song, Tebe Tebe (Released January 2020). Her natural ability to share her personal experiences through her songs in a way that is very relatable has endeared her to her growing social media following of over 80,000 people across social media platforms and earned her over one million streams on digital music streaming platforms.
With a style reminiscent of Norah Jones, Blessing brings a unique fusion of soulful vocals and intricate guitar tunes to the stage as a prolific live performer. Having played at festivals like Splashy Fen in South Africa, Carnival Calabar in Nigeria, and Nigerian Festival in Halifax Canada, to mention a few. She has opened for renowned Nigerian musicians like WizKid, Davido, Tiwa Savage, Timi Dakolo and Patoranking to mention a few. Blessing’s live performance is an emotive journey that melds evocative storytelling with the ethereal sounds of her guitar. Her music resonates with the richness of African soul and contemporary resonance, creating an ambiance that’s both serene and compelling.
In 2022, Blessing obtained a PhD in public policy and administration and in 2024, a graduate certificate in music business. Her latest release ‘Teach Me’ (released February 9, 2024) was featured in two Spotify editorial playlists on release week (Be Lifted and New Gospel Africa). Shortly after in May 2024, she went on a sold out Canadian tour with Johnny Drille as a supporting act. Upon her return to Halifax, she performed at the Halifax Jazz Festival and is slated to showcase at Contact East in September 2024 and in Nova Scotia Music Week in November 2024. Her newest single ‘Prayer’ will be released on September 27, 2024.
