Koffee Brings Her Joyful Reggae Tunes to NPR's Tiny Desk Concert Series
Released just hours after the 19-year old won the GRAMMY for Best Reggae Album.
19-year-old Jamaican singer-songwriter Koffee is having a moment. Not only did she become the youngest and only woman to ever win a GRAMMY Award for Best Reggae Album last night (January 27, 2020), but she has also opened up to a number of notable collaborators as of late with feature appearances from Daniel Caesar and Gunna. Now hours after taking home her first GRAMMY win, Koffee has joined NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series for a joyous four-song performance highlighting some standouts from last year’s critically-acclaimed Rapture project.
Set highlights include the songs “Raggamuffin,” “Rapture,” “Toast” and “W.” Koffee first got her start writing songs at the age of 12. Then at 16, she started to perform at competitions, but her true breakout came one year later after posting her single “Legend” to Instagram in honor of legendary Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. The Olympian then re-posted the song and the rest is history.
“When [I] get a track first, I sit and I kind of just get in my zone and listen to it over and over again and just feel how best I think suits the track and [I] try to complement it in the best way possible,” she told HYPEBEAST of her writing process in an interview last year. “Lyrics will come to me at times. I would probably [be] walking and something hit my head and once I have a chance I will write it in my phone.”
“I think the thing that keeps me connected and into Jamaican music and the roots of Jamaican music is probably the language and the way that I deliver,” she explains. “I speak in a 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 of exploring to do, a lot more work and experiences to gain, so, I wouldn’t box myself yet.”
Stream the full performance above. For more on the rising Reggae superstar, revisit our Koffee Is the Future of Reggae feature from last year where the Jamaican star talks about her early beginnings, her music and challenging herself. Catch up on all of the 62nd GRAMMY Award winners too.
Thanks for having us @nprmusic 🙏🏽 https://t.co/t2j70b8KBM
— Koffee (@originalkoffee) January 27, 2020
