Koffee. Photo by Nwaka Okparaeke
This Friday, Grammy-winning reggae artist Koffee will finally share her debut album Gifted. The Jamaican singer-songwriter's given us plenty of reasons to get excited with the singles "Lockdown," "Pull Up," and "West Indies," and now she's added a fourth one to the mix with "Shine."
An acoustic guitar-driven song with some chart-friendly 808s from producer Jae5, "Shine" is a hopeful and urgent plea for peace. "At my concert, nuh wan see nuh hands up / Nuh red shirt, nuh wan see nuh handcuffs / Let's just stay alive," she sings, getting even more direct on the hook: "Youth haffi find a way / To put the nine away." Listen below:
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Speaking today with Apple Music, Koffee discussed how she came up with Gifted's title:
I don't remember when I came up with the name, but I remember the thought process is that coming out of a time that made us like as creative for the most part, at least doubt ourselves, like at least once. Just kind of be in a head space of thinking "Man, can I really do this? Is this really meant for me? Is this the right time? Am I doing the right thing?" I think a lot of us during the pandemic had asked ourselves that question and myself included. I wanted to remind myself, encourage myself and just bring back that energy of being talented and reminding my fellow creatives that look, no matter what the setback is or how down you may feel like in a certain time, trust me, don't forget your gift that you have within you. Just remember that once you have life and you have the ability to execute a gift, just use that to the fullness of your ability.
