Koffee Shares Her Journey In Billboard and Honda Stage Documentary
“We Likkle but Wi tallawah” is a common phrase amongst Jamaican people that means despite the country’s small size, its people make up for it in terms of spirit, energy, and pride. Jamaica has continued to be home to some of the most exciting food, fashion, music, and sound. But now more than ever, people are looking up to the country and asking: What’s next? What does the future hold for Jamaica Reggae music?
Reggae is fat with quintessential rags-to-riches stories. The infectious sound of newcomer Koffee that has been sweeping the airwaves locally and across the globe is the latest addition. After bursting through the industry’s glass ceiling with her sensational hit “Toast” single in 2018, she carved a comfortable position in the Caribbean and international music scene.
Billboard and Honda have teamed up to tell Koffee‘s journey to stardom in a series of videos this week. The Honda Stage features artists with unique stories and big dreams, with a drive to make those dreams a reality. The videos were narrated by Koffee, herself and shot in her actual home and the community where she grew up.
Born as Mikayla Simpson, jubilance is what radiates from this young star. With her bright eyes and radiant smile, it easy to see why people gravitate towards teenage artist .Even before you hear her music; warmth emits from her core.
Koffee is a 19 –year old female singer-songwriter from Spanish Town in Kingston. She was brought up by a single mother in family of four as the second born. Koffee first came into the limelight after releasing a video of herself performing a song written about Usain Bolt entitled “Legend”. The clip went viral and she found herself performing in front of Mr. Bolt at Unveiling Usain Statue Ceremony at Kingston’s National Stadium. Fast forward, she released her first official single titled “Burning” that featured her original take on Upsetta Records, “ Ouji Riddim”. The banger hit ended up topping several reggae charts in the U.S. According to Koffee, Burning came from a disappointing experience “I applied for 6th Form but I didn’t get in and I felt really disappointed by that. So burning was an inspiration to me to push me forward.”
In 2018 she quickly caught the eyes of those in the know when reggae hero Coco Tea brought Koffee on to the Stage at Rebel Salute.
The rising star got a prestigious chance to perform with dance hall music legendary Protoje and Chronixx, and later joined them on BBC broadcast from Kingston’s Legendary Tuff Gong Studios. She then released the explosive debut single “Toast” in her debut EP Rapture that contain other hits such as “Ragamuffins” and “Rapture”. The Major Lazar –produced song is a celebration of her whirlwind musical journey so far. “Toast”, which has more than 85 million views on YouTube, won her a prize for a single of the year at the Jamaica Music Industry Association Annual awards ceremony followed by massive collaboration from international music stars such as Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, and Chronixx.
According to Koffee, The massive success of the song caught her by surprise “I was really nervous about it. I’d been doing roots reggae until then and Toast is such a different vibe in its production. I was wondering whether my country would accept me doing something a bit more pop.”
Koffee has already accomplished what some artist can only dream of. Currently, her debut EP Rapture that contains five songs is nominated for 62nd Annual Grammy Awards (to be held on 22nd, January, 2020) among four other bodies of work for “Best Reggae Album”. The Grammy is a tremendous achievement as this is her first albums and she’ll be competing among veteran reggae artists/bands who are past winners and nominees. It also makes her the youngest solo artist ever to be nominated in this category.
On 26th, November, the Jamaican singer released her new single “W” featuring Atlanta-based rapper Gunna. The music video which was directed by Matt Baron has over 3 million views in as little as two weeks.
Describing herself as the next great “Singjay- the term refers to a Jamaican style of reggae that combines singing and deejaying by the performer –Koffee’s current output has trended towards the more traditional Jamaican rhythms. However, the beauty of her music is the ability to navigate between dancehall, reggae and even elements of afro-beats without batting an eye. “I speak Jamaican Creole, specifically in my lyrics, but I’m definitely not closed to any genre at the moment because I am super young, I only have a few songs out and there’s a lot to explore, a lot more work and experience to gain, so, I wouldn’t box myself yet.”
Although Jamaican culture presents itself everywhere in her work there is a specific teenaged global sensibility to her sound and looks that’s markedly different from reggae giants of the past. She aspires to remain positive, spiritual and a good example to the youths “I want to be inspirational like Bob Marley-he was so positive all his life, so influential and substantial. I’m trying to be inspired by his purity. The way he took his experiences, his environment, and made it relatable to the whole world.”
Indeed, there are no restrictions on this teenager’s talent. For most up-and-coming artists, the path to success always seem more reliant on a stroke of social media luck or cheat codes to an unbeatable game. But for Koffee she is to be getting the right attention from the right people. Will that trend hold up? Could she be the future of reggae /dancehall music?
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