Koffee On Why There’s No Features On Her Album, Says She’s Excited For Shenseea’s Album

Jamaican singer Koffee is the only star on her upcoming 10-track debut Gifted.  “There’s actually no features on it,” the Grammy Award-winning singer told Lukie Wyniger aka Uncle Peng Peng, of the Peng Peng podcast out of Switzerland.

When asked if this move was planned or if she simply couldn’t choose who to have on the album she responded, “We never planned it beforehand and said, ‘okay… no features for this project whatsoever’ but I think just in the creative process and the way I created all the songs — some of them with the band — we just decided that what we had. And the way I put them together and the way it flowed was a good idea.”

“None of the verses are empty or nuttin’. I completed all the tracks and everything so I just decided I would keep it within that and not go outside of what would flow naturally,” she added.

Gifted will have among its 10 tracks, the lead-out song X10, which is said to sample Bob Marley’s classic Redemption Song.  The other tracks are Defend, Shine, the title track Gifted, Lonely, Run Away, Where I’m From as well as the already-released West Indies, Pull Up and her 2020 hit single Lockdown.

In 2020, Koffee won the Best Reggae Album Grammy Award, for her debut EP titled Rapture, which had only one feature with singer Jane Macgizmo on the track Blazin.

Considering that Koffee has also collaborated on singles with the likes of Buju Banton, Protoje, Govana, J Hus, John Legend, Gunna, and most recently Cruel Santino (even Afro-pop icons like Davido and Burna Boy have publicly expressed interest in creating hits with the Jamaican artist), a no-feature album could come as a surprise to fans. Now, it seems they will have to wait until her sophomore album.

“I know I’ll have features in the future,” she told Uncle Peng. “Features aren’t a no no for me. I’m all good.”

March is a big month for Jamaicans in music as both Shenseea and Koffee will be dropping their debut albums. Shen’s Alpha is set for release two weeks before Gifted but Koffee insists there is no feeling of competition between the artists. A self-confessed Shenseea fan, when asked about her feelings on Alpha, Koffee stated, “I’m excited for that. Whenever I see Shen it’s always good energy.”

So what can we expect from Gifted—one of the most anticipated albums for 2022?

According to Koffee, “A little bit of roots reggae, a tad of dancehall. Some of the songs you’ve heard already. It’s me opening up a little more personally and me being more involved in the production.”

Gifted is due out on March 25 via Sony Music UK/RCA Records.  Shenseea’s Alpha arrives this Friday, March 11 via Rich Immigrants/Interscope Records.

Watch Koffee’s full interview with Peng Peng below.