2019 was the first time Former US President Barack Obama included Koffee’s turntable hit “Toast” from her Rapture Ep to his favorite music of the year.
“From hip-hop to country to The Boss, here are my songs of the year. If you’re looking for something to keep you company on a long drive or help you turn up a workout, I hope there’s a track or two in here that does the trick,” Obama wrote in twitter.
Fast forward 4 years later, today, July 26, with his ears to the ground Koffee’s Pull Up is including the 44th President of the United States Summer hit list of 44 songs. The list also includes Beyonce’s Break My Soul, Tems’s Vibe Out and Burna Boy’s Last Last.
Obama wrote on his social media earlier today, “Every year, I get excited to share my summer playlist because I learn about so many new artists from your replies—it’s an example of how music really can bring us all together. Here’s what I’ve been listening to this summer. What songs would you add?”
Every year, I get excited to share my summer playlist because I learn about so many new artists from your replies—it’s an example of how music really can bring us all together.
Here’s what I’ve been listening to this summer. What songs would you add? pic.twitter.com/9OgPq0SRy4
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 26, 2022
Pull up is the second single from Koffee’s debut album Gifted released by Colombia/RCA Records. Gifted debuted at number 2 on the Reggae Billboard charts with 3500 total units sold in the US in the first week according to data provided to World Music Views by Luminate . The album clocked 700 in total album sales and 3,290,800 streams. The project also debuted at number 9 on the UK top 100 albums chart.
The album landed at number 5 on the UK physical albums chart and that gives Koffee the distinction of being the first female Jamaican to make the UK albums chart top ten.
Other women of Jamaican descent to climb the UK albums chart are Stefflon Don and Diana King.
Stefflon Don’s 2018 album Secure peaked at 35 and Diana King’s 1995 album Tougher Than Love peaked at number 50 on the top 100 chart.
Since Koffee came on the scene she has gotten a lot of label support. After winning the Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 2020, John Fleckenstein, co-president of RCA said to Rolling Stones “Koffee’s success continues, it’s not gonna end in Jamaica. It’s gonna end on a global level.“
Gifted has also landed at No. 11 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart, which ranks the sales by new and developing musical recording artists each week.
Koffee took the Jamaican culture to late night television in the US last night when she performed her latest single “Pull Up” from her upcoming debut album Gifted on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. The set was transformed into a dancehall with crates, speaker systems and dancers to accentuate the performance. As Fallon introduced the Sony Music artist, Chromatic sound reintroduced Koffee in true dancehall fashion.
“Yuh done know chromatic deh yah alongside the original Koffee from Jamaica, yo koffee you wah tell them”
The voice of Vybz Kartel can be heard echoing “Chromatic the ultimate” as she took the stage to resounding applause and a “money pull” up by the selector.
Dressed in North Face army fatigue, Koffee sings “Pull up innah the audi yeah i nah watch nobody” as she showcased her Jamaican culture to the American audience.
Barack Obama has included at least one Koffee song on his bi-annual playlists since 2019. The Lockdown singer, age 19 at the time was asked in 2020 what it feels like to have the former president as a fan at the Grammy Awards and she said: “It was dope. It was super dope and I realized recently also that his wife, Michelle Obama also has my song on her list for working out. So I feel really proud about that.”
