First-generation Canadian-American Kojo Kay first started his journey as a music artist back in 2021 – but stopped a year later to focus on perfecting his sound and style of artistry.
A few years later and he’s now readying the release of his self-produced debut mixtape, titled ‘TONEBOW’, and with it, a taster for the record called ‘THE HUMMINGBIRD TOLD ME IT’S ALL GONNA BE ALRIGHT SO I GUESS IT REALLY WILL BE SO…’.
The song is refreshingly experimental and delivers an approach to hip hop that is alternative and highly unique in character. On its creation, the artist explains:
“My goal on this single was to experiment with the sonic boundaries of melodic hip hop, but also my boundaries as an artist as well to create a piece of work that was truly an accurate reflection of my thoughts in a very dark moment. This moment is one unfamiliar to nearly none, the feeling of the worlds problems combined with your own individual ones weighing on you to the point of near collapse.
“I conveyed this universal emotion with a chaotic yet fully controlled production scene with drums that intentionally sound like they have fallen from a universe we haven’t visited yet (far beyond the reach of Artemis), synths and vocal effects (the main synth is actually my voice) to further amplify this emotion and then finally the introspective/reflective lyrics that ground you back on earth allowing the whole piece to somehow feel like a memory that never occurred, future-nostalgia.”
The track was made alongside frequent collaborator and Juno Award-winning engineer Jamie Kuse. ‘TONEBOW’ is out soon, but in the meantime you can listen to more teasers here.
Kojo Kay | Ones To Watch Playlist