Grammy award winner Koffee will release her debut album Gifted on March 25 via Sony Music UK/RCA Records. The album will consist of 10 songs and will feature the track Shine, which is an ode to her mother. Gifted, is an infusion of reggae, dancehall and Afrobeats.
“The title is a reminder to myself and the listeners that we are all gifted. The title track, the message of it is that we have life and we’re blessed and we have a lot to be thankful for.” Koffee said at her listening party which was held on Saturday, March 5 at Craighton Estate in Irish Town, St Andrew.
During her performance of Shine, Koffee could not hold back her emotions. When she got to a lyric that says her mother would be proud no matter what she did, Koffee got teary-eyed and stopped singing. “The highlight for me tonight was the most vulnerable moment for me while performing. I got emotional singing the song [ Shine] that refers to my mom. That’s the first I’ve ever had a moment like that on stage,” she shared with the media. Koffee however took the song from the top, and later did an encore, to the delight of her guests.
Koffee referenced her mother throughout the 10-track album. “I’m just really, really blessed to be the mother of this young lady. And when I see her humility, it just reminds me of the fact that she never forgets where she’s coming from…It’s been a journey.” Koffee’s mother Jo-Anne Williams shared.
The 22-year-old displays a different side of her on Gifted when compared to Rapture, which won the 2020 Grammy award for Best Reggae album. “I have loosened up a bit and I think I am expressing myself a little bit more freely and I'm also getting a little bit more personal.” Koffee revealed. “I feel like a lot of passion went into creating this album. Myself and my band, we did some serious work to make it as natural as possible and also as inspiring as possible.”
Koffee worked with producers such as Dane Ray, Iotosh, Jae5 and Nathaneal ‘Nvtzz’ Brown’ on Gifted. Other songs that will be on the album are Where I’m From, Pull Up, West Indies and Lockdown which serve as an ode to her journey.
To promote Gifted, Koffee will do a series of shows in the United Kingdom and a tour throughout the United States which will start in Seattle and end in Bakersfield, California.