Koffee Blasts the Reggae!

Inducted as the new star of Jamaican music after a Grammy for her EP Rapture in 2020 (making her the youngest female Grammy winner in that category), Mikayla Simpson aka Koffee launches her first album Gifted by following in Bob Marley's footsteps, on x10. Simpson superimposes her vocals on an extract of Redemption Song, one of the biggest hits of the prophet of reggae, in a similar manner to what Lauryn Hill had done on Turn Your Lights Down Low in 1999. It's no coincidence that Koffee, since her first track Burning in 2017, has gone beyond the borders of the Caribbean island to become a sensation in the world of pop, which she has captivated with the versatility of her flow.

This first studio album, more mellow and less militant than her first EP, demonstrates once again the Jamaican's vocal dexterity, her ability to bounce and accelerate her voice, alternating between sung and spoken passages, in the great tradition of the island's singjay artists (Barrington Levy or Sizzla).

Musically, she keeps one foot in the roots reggae revival launched by her mentors Chronixx and Protoje, while flirting with the afrobeats in vogue in West Africa, on tracks such as West Indies, Lockdown or Pull Up, produced by Jae5, the man behind Burna Boy and Mr Eazi hits.

Navigating a permanent state of limbo, Koffee dips into dancehall, roots, hip-hop or Afro-Caribbean rhythms, singing, chanting, modulating her flow with impressive ease, Koffee is definitely on the right track with this debut.

LISTEN TO "GIFTED" BY KOFFEE ON QOBUZ