Kofi

Singer, rapper, and producer Kofi unites the sonic worlds of alternative hip-hop, R&B, and Afrobeats. Born Daenan Gyimah in 1998 in the Toronto east-end district of Scarborough, the artist was introduced to music as an adolescent, learning piano and eventually composing classical music for his school band. Kofi went on to play volleyball at the collegiate level, all the while balancing a burgeoning music career. Those early ambitions resulted in the 2018 project Tripolar, which featured melodic trap beats and introspective bars on tracks like the pensive “Ties.” After the pandemic cut his athletic endeavors short, Kofi fully directed his time and energy toward his musical creativity. He would further express the experiences driving his music with the 2020 EP Story of My Life, led by “Babygirl,” an undulating song that manages to be sexy and brooding at once. After dropping a string of singles, Kofi released his 2021 album 100 Dark Nights, a revelatory collection of songs that speak to the MC’s hard-won successes.