Koffee’s journey captured by Billboard and Honda
Published:Wednesday | December 11, 2019 | 12:39 AMYasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer
Music bible, Billboard, and Honda have joined forces to tell the story of Grammy-nominated Jamaican artiste, Koffee.
A three-minute-and-23-second video, titled Koffee Looks Back On Childhood and Early Love of Reggae Music , was officially released on Monday on video-sharing platform YouTube. At the introduction of the video, a joint statement by the two companies reads: “Billboard and Honda are proud to debut the story of one of the year’s most exciting rising stars.” The next image shouts “Gwaan Wit It”, a popular line from Koffee’s tunes.
Honda adds, “In a Honda Backstage interview, Koffee discusses her experiences growing up in Spanish Town, Jamaica, and the origins of her passion for reggae music.”
Narrated by Koffee, the video is shot in Koffee’s actual home and community and features smiling photos of Koffee as a little girl, trophies she has won, the faces of ordinary people, as well as Koffee’s mother Jo-Anne Williams. Koffee tells of a quiet lifestyle, raised by a single mother. “My mom was and still is a Christian, so it was to and from church,” Koffee states, adding later on in the video, “I grew up in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. I think we are very musical people. We take pride in singing hymns and embracing learning different musical instruments and learning music.”
Koffee’s mother gets very honest. “I was a single parent so things were very hard with me with her a child. It was hard on me. I wasn’t working, so tings I wanted to do with her as a child, I couldn’t.”
Koffee tells how she was influenced by Jamaican culture and how a Richie Stephens CD that her mother used to play impacted her.
Of her creativity, she says, “I tend to write from the heart, things that are true to me. I tend to stick to my roots.”
Unique experience
Honda, who hails Koffee for “breathing new life into the genre”, explains that their Honda Backstage is a unique, behind-the-scenes experience, where fans can dive deeper into what inspires and drives these artistes who have pushed further and reached higher, no matter what stood in their way.
“Through Honda Stage, Honda Backstage, live events like Honda Civic Tour and Honda Stage festivals, and exclusive online content from partners, including Billboard, UPROXX, UMG, Vevo, and iHeartMedia, Honda offers music fans access to the music moments they love, and celebrates the creativity and drive it takes to make it big.”
Koffee, whose Rapture EP has been nominated for a Grammy award, recently released the single, W, featuring American rapper, singer and songwriter, Sergio Giavanni Kitchens, better known by his stage name Gunna.