Koffee Transformed from School Girl to Grammy Winner
The Grammy Winner Koffee, who was only 17-year-old when she made her first hit “Raggamuffin Reggae Beat dancehall pan de street” and after a few months she graced some of the biggest stages on the planet and worked with artistes like Protégé and Chronix.
In a recent interview she said her remarkable rise in the past 2 years was a huge blessing and it is hard to keep up, she has so much gratitude that she can’t explain.
The moment with Cocoa Tea at Rebel Salute was one that changed her life, it was huge for her, but she believes the video with the tribute to Usain Bolt that he shared for her on Instagram really gave her career a huge boost.
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She looked back at being introduced to Cocoa Tea at a studio when she got some beats and he said he liked her music, before he called her to perform at Rebel Salute.
She spoke about studying the sciences and trying to move up to 6th form as she wanted to be a Pharmacist, but when that plan fell through, she decided that she would do music instead of academics.
When she was named the “New artiste of the Year” by JARIA it was a big shock for her because she had only released 1 song. It gave her a lot of motivation and made her want to continue in the music business.
One of the artistes who influenced her tremendously was Super Cat, she relates her flow and her delivery to her effort to be like him. She has a very unique taste in her choice of music for her age, as Super Cat has not been putting out new music recently.
Koffee is not defining her music as Reggae or dancehall, but she is leaning towards Roots Reggae. She wants to keep on putting out conscious music in the future.
Koffee’s whose given name is Mikayla Simpson does music that cuts across demographic groups as ‘Toast can be even played in church.
She says she is hoping young people will gravitate to conscious music. It is said that the world needs someone like her right now.
The song ‘Toast’ got its name in a very complicated way she said, she thought about complimenting the rhythm and the word toast came to her mind. She listened to the lyrics over and over and the word toast stood out, and now to have Koffee and Toast seems like a great combination.
Her name Koffee was given to her when her friend saw her drinking Coffee in the day for lunch. It was very unusual for someone her age to be drinking Coffee, but she didn’t get to drink it at home because of her mother’s religion and she took the opportunity to try coffee that day, when her Mom was not there.
Ever since, her friends renamed her, Koffee.
Her first moment on an international stage when she had to perform before 10,000 persons in Alexandra Palace, in England it was so beautiful for her. She said it was just an awesome experience, she was a bit nervous because that was the biggest audience she had ever seen.
She speaks about the huge love for Reggae Music outside Jamaica and she looks forward to going to more places.
“Toast” is the most played song in Jamaica right now, no other female artiste has had so much success in Jamaica before.
She remembers saying to her team that as an artiste, she has a great responsibility to make the people feel good about it, she feels motivated in the same path, since she hasn’t done anything wrong in the people’s eyes so far.
Her team is still being built and now there is Tamara Chang, Columbia Records in the UK and her management.
She said growing up in Spanish Town was quiet for her, because she was a house rat. She didn’t know she was living next to where Chronix lived but didn’t know it.
She went to Ardene at the age of 12 after she left Ensom City Primary School. Her father has lived abroad for a long time and she wasn’t close to him, she only grew up with her mother.
Her new music could be coming out in March, her fans can expect more experiments with more flows rhythms, genres and a lot more to expect.
In 10 years, she would like to be one of the big influencers in the music business, who keep the fire burning positively for the youth and the people who need it. She wants to be a very positive influence on her society in Jamaica and the world as well.
