Ayotomiwa Akande, known professionally as Tkandz, is a Nigerian-British rapper from Essex. He is currently based in London. Akande first rose to fame with his single \"No Sleep\" with artists T'jugga and Shiloh Dynasty, but would later find a resurgence in his career with the release of his track \"Now or Never\" with Cxsper, which went viral on social media and charted in multiple territories.

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Ayotomiwa Akande (born 2006), known professionally as Tkandz, is a Nigerian-British rapper from Essex. He is currently based in London. Akande first rose to fame with his single \"No Sleep\" with artists T'jugga and Shiloh Dynasty, but would later find a resurgence in his career with the release of his track \"Now or Never\" with Cxsper, which went viral on social media and charted in multiple territories.\n

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Early life

Akande was born in Lagos, Nigeria, but moved to the United Kingdom at a young age. He taught himself how to make music on BandLab at the age of 15.\n

Career

Beginning, early singles, and breakthrough (2022-2025)

In 2022, Akande released his first song, titled \"Rainy Days\" with Kes and T'jugga. His second release, \"No Sleep\", featuring T'jugga and Shiloh Dynasty began to go viral on social media, marking his official breakout single. After his breakout, Akande would continue to release music, but would find a resurgence in his career when he released his most-streamed single as of yet, titled \"Now or Never\". The track immediately went viral on TikTok, and would also become Akande's first-ever track to debut on the Billboard Global 200, peaking at number 152. \"Now or Never\" also entered Spotify's Top 50 daily charts in the UK, Poland, and the Netherlands, among others. Additionally, the professional football club Paris Saint-Germain FC (PSG FC), used the audio in one of their TikTok posts. Lamine Yamal of FC Barcelona also used the audio in his post. Magazine Marie Claire also used the audio in one of their TikTok posts. According to NME, Akande is working on a new EP titled Prodigy. \n

Singles and EP (2026-present)

Entering the new calendar year of 2026, it was announced that Akande would be performing at his first Rolling Loud festival in Australia. On 5 February 2026, Tkandz released the remix to his viral track, titled \"Now or Never II\", which saw a feature from Lil Baby. On 11 February 2026, NME featured the rapper on their The NME 100: Essential Emerging Artists for 2026 list. On 19 March 2026, Tkandz released his track \"One Hit Wonder\". The track serves as the lead single to his upcoming EP, Prodigy. On 31 March 2026, Rolling Loud announced that Tkandz would be making his debut at Rolling Loud Orlando following his rise to stardom.\n

Personal life

Tkandz met his go-to producer, Cxsper, on a Discord call. The two met when the producer was consistently sending beats to Akande, which he respected. After getting to know each other, the two would talk about video games, memes and other interests outside music. Akande has cited how if he needs \"real energy\", the first person he'll go to is Cxsper, as he had it from day one, according to the rapper. That is also how the two made their track \"Now or Never\".\n

According to Akande, his dream is to go to Germany, Italy and France to connect with new people outside of the United Kingdom. His second goal is to get a gold record or go platinum. According to Akande, he says it doesn't make him feel finished, and makes him even \"hungrier\", as he's always in \"competition with himself\". He cites his mother as his biggest supporter.\n

Discography

Charted singles

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References

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External links

Official BandLab profile

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Tkandz

Broadcast History