Reggae sensation Koffee became the first woman to win a Grammy for best Reggae album.
Following the success of her Ep “Rapture” which went number one on the Reggae iTunes chart she continues to champion reggae culture but not as a revivalist. Gifted pays homage to the greats but distinguishes her as the sound of reggae’s future.
The ten song 29 minute set starts out with the strings from Bob Marley’s Redemption Song on x10 with echos from the Gong shouting “Old Pirate” and “Won’t You Help Me Sing”. Using the Marley sample to communicate her own redemption was a clever move commercial and artistically. The second song, Defend is as short as Protoje’s In The Streets from his first album 7 Year Itch. Koffee understands that finding connections to her musical ancestry is her advantage to win in a fame seeking industry.
Throughout the album she makes references to her mother, her friends, and where she is from as she celebrates with thanksgiving to God for her own success and future ambitions.
“Momma you kissing and hugging me say no matter what I did you’d be proud of me,” she sings with the confidence of a loved child.
The W singer grew up in Spanish Town, among the roughest neighborhoods in Jamaica and she is the last of five children for her single mother, but the purity in her words and voice supersedes childhood circumstances. Her music could easily be bitter and overly violent with ingratiating stories and daddy issues, but gratitude, love and her gifts are at the heart of her music.
There is also a constant mystery lover that pops up throughout the album and on songs like Run Away she says “Beg you fi pick up, i’m calling, yea beg you fi pick up, i’m falling, ooh.”
She takes on gender roles with said lover as she desperately proposes with Yardman style lyrics “Money wah me make me buy a new plane/Yeah, you know you fire, you my new flame.”
It’s clear who will be the leader in her relationship.
As she progresses to the next level of her career with Gifted, her focus on melody commands a pull up but there are no obvious chart toppers. Except for Lockdown, the last track which is a YouTube and turntable hit for the times as quarantine ends ‘and everybody touch road’.
Koffee’s sound is still fresh and Gifted sweetens the musical pallet, with heartwarming inspiration and soul touching vibrations.
4.5/5
