Olurotimi Akinosho ((Listenⓘ); born November 30, 1988), known professionally as Rotimi, is a Nigerian-American actor and singer. He is known for his role as Darius Morrison on the Starz series Boss, and as Andre Coleman on Power, then as Charles on The Chi; However on June 29, 2024 he confirmed that he would be joining full time in season 7.[1][2]
Early life and education
Rotimi was born in Maplewood, New Jersey to a Nigerian family of Yoruba heritage.[3] He attended Columbia High School, where he was on both the varsity basketball team and the choir. He continued his studies at Northwestern University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Communication with a minor in Business in 2010.[4]
Career
Acting
At his first trial with acting, Rotimi auditioned and subsequently got his first acting role on Boss as drug dealer Darius Morrison.[5] Rotimi also appeared in three episodes of ABC's Betrayal.
Rotimi next appeared in the high grossing film, Divergent (2014). In 2016 Rotimi also acted in the movie Deuces alongside Lance Gross and Larenz Tate.
He was added to the cast of Starz' TV series Power as a series regular, in the role of Andre Coleman, the quick-tempered young protégé of the character Ghost.[7] Rotimi was also cast in a recurring role on Battle Creek as Danny.
Rotimi garnered music placement with "I'm the One" on the first episode of Boss. In 2015, American rapper and executive producer of Power, 50 Cent signed Rotimi to his label, G-Unit Records.[9] He also released his first G-Unit single "Lotto" featuring 50 Cent.
In 2016, Rotimi released "Doin it", a single from his 5-track project, Summer Bangerz.[10] In 2017 he released his debut EP called Jeep Music Vol. 1.
In 2019, he released a single titled "Love Riddim" which has garnered attention from both old fans and newly made ones.
On November 25, 2019, Rotimi shared a picture of himself and Tanzanian singer Vanessa Mdee posing in an elevator, with Vanessa also confirming their relationship by posting the same picture with a different caption.[17][18] Rotimi told the story of how the two met at a party and hit it off [19] and Vanessa also said in an interview how she knew he was her husband, only two days after meeting him.[20] In a video posted on Instagram with Rotimi who was later joined by Vanessa, the pair revealed that they both had tattoos of each other's name on their bodies; her (middle) name, Hau, on his right wrist and his name, Rotimi, on her chest.[21] They also have matching tattoos of the number 1045 on their wrists.[22]
In December 2020, Rotimi got engaged to Vanessa.[23]
