Koffee Shares What To Expect From New Album ‘Gifted’
With her debut album Gifted set for release next month, Jamaican sensation Koffee has offered some insight into what fans can expect from the new project.
Speaking with the London-based Evening Standard in a new cover story, the 21-year-old, who turns 22 on February 16, shared that she’s been working on new music since she walked away with the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album for her Rapture EP in 2020.
“Since the pandemic, I’ve been at home in Jamaica. It’s a pretty quiet place in comparison [to the UK]. Not much goes on, so I’ve just been working on music,” she said in the interview, which boasted photography from Ekua King.
Among the new sounds from the forthcoming 10-track set is the opener X10, which, according to the Standard, samples Bob Marley’s classic Redemption Song (1980). Late last year, Koffee had shared that it was her dream to remix one of the late Reggae legend’s songs, in the same vein as Lauryn Hill’s Grammy Award-winning Turn Your Lights Down Low remix.
While Gifted honors Reggae’s roots with gestures like the Marley sample, the Standard noted that the album still “pushes the genre forward” with producers such as “Grammy-winning Jae5 to weave Afrobeats and dancehall influences through her signature sound.”
The Lockdown singer revealed that the new album moves away from the more political lyrics that were prevalent in Rapture, towards a more mellow and calming aesthetic.
“I wanted the album to be less heavy, so I didn’t put as much political ‘Oh, bun Babylon’ type of vibe into this one,” she said. “[I like to think of] the solution rather than reiterating the problem — just come up with something that can make you feel uplifted.”
“I can refer to Burna Boy’s tracks and take inspiration from [dancehall artist] Popcaan’s songs…We’ve been listening to the rest of the world and tapping into where sound has been going. Music has a way where it moves, regardless of the genre, to progress,” she continued.
Gifted‘s tracklist kicks off with X10, Defend, Shine, Gifted, Lonely, Run Away, and Where I’m From.
The previously released West Indies, Pull Up and 2020’s summer hit Lockdown complete the set which is due out on March 25.