New music is released regularly, but nothing is more exciting than when an emerging artist debuts a full collection of songs. Koffee, otherwise known as Mikayla Simpson, is already a Grammy award winner but it’s only within the last few days that the musician has dropped her long awaited feature length album. Gifted became available to music lovers a few days ago with critics and current fans having wasted no time in hailing the album as a hit. Both the standard version and the deluxe version are now streaming, serving as Koffee’s coming out party to audiences across the globe.
Gifted is a variation of styles packed into one innovative concept. A touch of pop, a splash of reggae, and hip hop all mixed together
Gifted is a variation of styles packed into one innovative concept. A touch of pop, a splash of reggae, and hip hop all mixed together make the album a novel experience for any listener who has yet to listen in on Koffee’s current or prior work. As is the recent trend for singer/songwriters, Covid-19 is an obvious influence at least for part of the album. The rest is just a look inside the inspiring imagination of an artist who has only now really started to open up to the world. In ultra-modern fashion, Koffee uses Gifted to build off her award winning EP in the hopes of establishing her own sound and within her own niche of the music scene.
There is very little room to find error in her creative choices, be it the song writing, music production, or the subject matter. The music production is worthy of any top selling artist of the present day, hosting a blend of electro edits and raw instrumentals that compliment her Jamaican urbanity. Vocally and lyrically she can be tough to follow on the first listen on some songs. Just the same, the alluring sound and the cadence of her vocals are enticing enough to warrant multiple listens anyway so this isn’t an issue. One particular point to note about Koffee is that though her sound is similar to other reggae or pop artists, for the most part, she is fairly individualistic in her approach to making music. She’s easily distinguishable from other artists, and not easily mistakable for anyone else. Regarding specific songs, the high points of the album are Lockdown, Lonely, Defend, and Shine. Each of these tracks are the best representation of her music in a culture sense, and especially in terms of the genres she is playing within.
Koffee is easily on track to be one of the more interesting performers of the twenty-first century. She’s dabbling in a known type of music with the intention of refining it and making it even bigger. Gifted was not actually the first step in that direction, but it’s likely to have been a crucial piece of the puzzle when it’s all said and done; and even though it’s not especially important, the new album will probably put her back in award season contention when the time comes. Until then though, it is best not to even dwell on such things.
