gratitude is a must: the Koffee thread

Hands-down the 2018 song that gave me the most joy was teenaged Koffee's "Toast":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8HoEvDh70Y

Her forthcoming EP should be fire based on the rest of her singles:

Throne:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V4ZDNV4si0

Burning: https://youtu.be/f5_xCnwz-fA
Raggamuffin: https://youtu.be/4HSO9YtEAyA

Somehow she elegantly bridges the roots revival (best represented by her mentor Chronixx) and the more pop-oriented dancehall scenes (she can absolutely spit), and I am positively antsy waiting for her next tune.

i think she's a star! Curious to see if she starts touring EU/US heavily this summer.

She's signed to Columbia UK, so Europe is a good bet. I suppose Montreal is longshot, but I'd consider a NYC trip just to see her.

Dancehall has never been my thing, but I def fuck with Toast.

Ok, so it turns out I fuck with all four of these ("Burning" the most, maybe?)

this is good and i haven't heard it before now, so thank you for starting this thread

xpost
I could see that--she has a lightness of touch that's pretty atypical and enormously appealing plus a ton of youthful energy.

Toast is actually the one that's closest to dancehall, while the rest are more rooted in reggae (though a 21st century and, again, a light on its feet version of it).

Here's a fun video of her with Chronixx at Tuff Gong:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne1oIaPIyIw

that's heartening, she's solid live out the gate.

their reactions to each other at the end of that make me giddy

live-ish version of Raggamuffin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rziidDjoFkE

Crazy flow on "Raggamuffin".

She has all the looks of a future icon to me. Rootsy dancehall is definitely a perfect direction to go into. I really like what's going on behind her in the production. And she finds time to do homage to 80s dancehall or Roots all the while working on an intense tune that sounds so fresh. Again, the details in Toast: those finger snaps, the different little synth melodies, the little drums. And maaaan it's spacey and bangs and flows. Amazing work for someone so young. And I talk most about Toast because I see it as a kind of masterpiece, but the others are A+ reggae too and she released them one after the other.

All for this thread. Thanks, rob!

Toast is very much my favourite, mostly because it's the one that has the least roots influence. Much as I like roots and reggae, living in the wookiest area of Bristol has made me a bit averse to roots-fusion music.

what's wookiest?

i really like her, glad i clicked on thread

lol does wookie mean white rasta in Bristol?

Toast is my favorite too, as Nabozo said the production is killer (Walshy Fire iirc). Watching that Big Yard Freestyle video a couple times yesterday made me get why longneck loves Raggamuffin so much though

liking these tracks, top thread

https://encyclopediadramatica.rs/Wook

I was liking “Toast” quite a lot already, but it has zoomed up all my rankings in the past few days. I’m also very fond of “Burning”.

lol does wookie mean white rasta in Bristol?

more or less. I was using it in that context I guess

toast is so good

the performance w chronixx is so solid too

Perhaps not surprisingly, “Toast” is also by far the biggest Jamaican song in Africa right now, especially in the Eastern reggae stronghold (as in top 10 streaming in Uganda, for example).

How big is Koffee in Jamaica itself? Is she a breakout star or does she have more of a leftfield appeal?

all her singles so far are great

Great videos for "Toast" and "Throne" too.

This is a cool interview. Apparently the EP comes out next month.

Also of note: it's her birthday today (Feb 16), and she loves Afrobeats.

"I hope to start a wave of gratitude."

That is a good interview! Excited to hear there's a track with Govana on the EP, that could be v cool. And I loved her answer to the Mud Up question--gonna have to find a way to keep my excitement about her crossover powers under control.

I'd been hesitant to listen to that Usain Bolt tribute song, but as much as it's clearly juvenilia, now I get why she got signed so quickly (also fun to learn that he played a part in her getting noticed). I hope there's an acoustic track on the EP, she's got all kinds of talent.

It’s not every year The Singles Jukebox reviews a Jamaican song.

smh at Alfred

anyway, Rapture is out March 14

Rapture is out and it's gorgeous, even though I must admit I was hoping for more than two new tracks.

yeah i was p excited but it's kinda just her spotify top tracks which i've been listening to lately

Yeah, it’s the four singles plus a track called “Blazin”, on Spotify at least. Is there a second new track somewhere (else)?

The title track is new, isn't it?

yeah

Ah yeah, my bad. “Burning” is not on it.

the EP is fantastic of course. I wonder if the Govana remix is forthcoming or its absence explains the brief delay

playing NYC on June 12
https://concerts1.livenation.com/event/000056758C8D2228

oof every time I check if an artist I like is coming to Montreal soon, they're all just playing Osheaga :/

I would kill to see her in London tomorrow night with Alicai Harley

not much to hear but still a little thrill:

Omggggg Koffee covered Burna Boy’s Ye my actual heart 😭😭😭😭🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 I love her bmt

cc @Compozers pic.twitter.com/LtgtHnnvM1

— manda (@Comanda_x) March 27, 2019

here's a full version from 1xtra:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ld79_2whFE

though I think I prefer this live one: https://youtu.be/x29yehMWKXY

the Atlantic has a good if slightly awkward profile of her: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/04/meet-koffee-jamaicas-teenage-reggae-sensation/586138/

As a Koffee fan I was insanely vexed by my friends introducing me to both the Ye cover and Rapture yesterday. I have cool friends though.

its getting a huge pr push it feels like

really good though!

Koffee ft. Govana • Rapture (Remix): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cm8duEzi3A

It's good, but since the original is perfect it also seems a bit unnecessary.

pretty great! I kind of wish they'd actually done a real remix so it would feel a little more necessary, but Govana's verses are great. Good video too

NYC show pushed to September

Yep.
https://urbanislandz.com/2019/06/01/koffee-writing-songs-rihannas-dancehall-album/?fbclid=IwAR0Et2Q-M4q8qwu_6V10NpEQYdzXxuyYB2ViqTpuqAvR3DZwWZ7uEDjJsAw

as much as I want that to be true, I'm gonna stick with my believe when I see it approach to R9

Missed this completely, dropped a month ago: Koffee and Chronixx jumping on Sheeran & Bieber’s “I Don’t Care”...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V00H7l7BgN4

(wish they had left S&B’s vocals off completely, but still not a good song anyway)

So Burna and Koffee performed on Kimmel days apart? Missed opportunity if there ever was one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BtonHilG0E

tune

nice

Sorry, we don't really care about hot weather good vibes like that on ILM, all those spontaneous youth exclamations are hurting our ears, and what's that about having the time of your life, this is indecent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ERr4G6gaPs
Koffee - The Harder They Fall

I'd prefer an album announcement but excited nonetheless

PULL UP 🏁🧡
Next Thursday https://t.co/arF37TdIBA pic.twitter.com/T4Mm4I1yuC

— Koffee (@originalkoffee) January 28, 2022

North American tour finally
https://www.instagram.com/p/CZZhMqQK_JG/

omg Montreal!

and oh shit w/Ayra Starr and Buju!!

oh sorry, it's OR not AND

might check her out at coachella.

i feel like the ny play must be webster hall

The Montreal venue already has it listed so it’s worth checking (assuming you didn’t already)

good call
Pier 17 huh?
https://www.ticketmaster.com/koffee-the-gifted-tour-new-york-new-york-05-12-2022/event/1D005C3B92D50CC2

lol, two ga standing room tickets are $106; fuck you ticketmaster

hopefully this salves that wound forks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvp9E12E4hQ

Pull Up, prod by Jae5

it rules btw, she is so much FUN

goddamn she is really great

impressed with Jae5 here too, the sax is a major(ly great) element

she dropping the album this year?

yes! Gifted, scheduled for March 25. apparently Lockdown and West Indies are on it along with this

Here's the tracklist. No mention of features, though I was reasonably certain Burna was on this

01 x10
02 Defend
03 Shine
04 Gifted
05 Lonely
06 Run Away
07 Where I’m From
08 West Indies
09 Pull Up
10 Lockdown

love the sax, jae5 rules

looking forward to the album

damn can't wait

what a great tune. i'm a car hater and i love it lol.

great song, use of sax reminds me of made in lagos

Tix secured for the Nashville show! Psyched.

the way the sax interplays with the organ during the solo is *chef's kiss*

different palette, different textures, but Koffee sounds good on Cruel Santino’s “Deadman Bone” as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snjnbEfB6jc

(Cruel Santino is the Nigerian alté artist formerly known as Santi - he’s got a new album out)

yeah she sounds cool on that. the whole album sounded good on a somewhat distracted listen

yeah, listened to it in full yesterday - really liked it, apart from the indie lull in the third quarter.

Where's it out? I thought it was March 25? Or has it just leaked?

we were talking about the Cruel Santino album, Subaru Boys: FINAL HEAVEN - and yes, it doesn’t really belong on this thread.

Oooooh. Gotcha. Just Koffee-focused.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwZSx8Ud9pE

really pleased that she's both living up to the hype and that there IS so much hype behind her now

otm! I was initially a little sad about there being no features on the album—I just want the Burna collab please—but it's pretty rad her label didn't force any off-brand guests on her

here's the studio version of Shine for the curious (it's not v different):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68IqNQE6Iio

Gifted is very sweet. It's a little more laidback than I was expecting, but she's so positive it feels p different from other overly chilled pop (also there is contemporary reggae on here you'd likely never hear elsewhere in the pop megaverse). And the track sequence is like an energy crescendo with "Where I'm From" the clear standout new one for me, and some of the first few tracks sound almost demo-ish. So sort of like w/ the new Rosalía, there's an expectation adjustment wrt to big pop moves and there's something possibly covid-era about its horizons. That said, if you know someone who hasn't heard the singles, this could be mind-blowing.

Tempted to put it on again immediately but I also need to hear the new Rema

happy koffee day

i'm hard-wired to think that something that sounds like "lonely" should be corny, but no, i'm floored. what a song.

"where i'm from," goddamn

just started this again and I wish Defend was a full track

worth noting Where I'm From is one of the several she has sole producer credit on

I love Koffee, but on first listen this sounds a little too geared towards the early hours open air festival stage set. I love the second half with all the already released hits - but so far the first half seems to miss a little bit of edge. I can see myself warming to it though.

Where I’m From is basically what I was hoping for more of.

this is quite good but a little slight compared to what i would have expected for her proper debut album

I need to listen a few more times but it brings me no joy to agree

That's a fair take; it's only about 20 minutes of new music.

My disappointment is mitigated by otherwise being impressed with how methodically she has developed her career. But I can't deny it's a bummer we didn't get a whole set that sounded like Where I'm From, West Indies, Lockdown etc.

I hear what you all mean by "slight," but tbh I love the album. I listened to it like 4 times in a row last night. I rolled my eyes the first time at the "Redemption Song" sample in the intro, but she makes it work musically and also I respect it as a sign of her ambitions — she wants to break big, and I'll be happy for her if she does. Overall I think it's basically delightful, everything flows nicely from one track to the next.

yeah this is better than I gave it credit for on day one (didn't help that it was competing for my attention with the maximalist new Rema). There's something subtly sophisticated about how the production creates space(s) for her voice, but does so differently on every new track; the title track is particularly good at this but I hear it on Runaway and Where I'm From too. Very much agree about the flow too

one thing: if you are surprised to find yourself loving "Lonely" you should probably check out Chronixx if you haven't before :)

Being bedridden sick was probably not the best way to enjoy Koffee but I couldn't shake off the feeling that the last three previously released songs are still the strongest, followed by the two immediately before it. The impact of the album is completely overshadowed by the impact that the singles and EPs had.

Oh my wife is right, that is her singing "fiesta forever" (Lionel Richie quote) in the great song "West Indies." "Where I'm From" and "Locked Down" and a bunch of others are faves of mine also. Her best cuts have a pop catchiness but with rhythmic power that's not watered down.