Cecilie Maja Hastrup Karshø, known professionally as Coco O., is a Danish musician best known as the singer in electronic soul duo
Quadron. She released her debut album ''It's a Process'' in 2021.
Early life
Cecilie Maja Hastrup Karshø was born and raised in
Copenhagen, Denmark.
Her father is biracial of Tanzanian descent.
Karshø began singing in kindergarten and aspired to sing professionally from childhood.
She first realized that her voice was received positively by others during a secondary school performance of a
Bill Withers song.
She names
Michael Jackson and
Lauryn Hill as early inspirations. Karshø's grandfather was a jazz musician.
Career
Quadron
Performing under the name Coco O., she formed the duo
Quadron with
Robin Hannibal of
Rhye
Rhye is an R&B musical project of Canadian singer Mike Milosh. It originally consisted of him and Danish instrumentalist Robin Hannibal. They released the singles "Open" and "The Fall" online without much detail, which led to speculation about ...
in 2009.
The word Quadron comes from archaic Danish "kvadron", a term used to signify persons of "quarter" race, and refers to the fact that both musicians have a biracial parent.
Coco O. was the duo's singer and moved to Los Angeles after the release of their debut album. Her voice was referred to by ''
Pitchfork'' as "sweetly soulful."
Solo work
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...
selected Coco O. to contribute the song "Where the Wind Blows" to the soundtrack for
Baz Luhrmann
Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...
's ''
The Great Gatsby''.
She has also worked with
Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...
and provided featured vocals for
Tyler, the Creator,
Vulfpeck
Vulfpeck is an American funk band founded in 2011 by Jack Stratton, Theo Katzman, Woody Goss and Joe Dart. The band has released four extended plays, five studio albums and a live album, having released all of their music independently. The ba ...
and
Joey Dosik.
In 2015 she released her first solo single, "Hardest Thing."
Coco O. moved back to Denmark in 2018 and released her debut solo project ''Dolceacqua'' on May 25, 2018.
The two-song EP has a
bossa nova
Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...
sound''.'' The album was written for an ex-boyfriend and named after
the small Italian village where they fell in love.
described it as "featuring mellow, acoustic guitar accompanied by rich, cinematic strings" and noted the sound is a departure from her previous work with Quadron.
On April 30, 2021, she released her first solo album ''It's a Process''. Zo of
Okayplayer
Okayplayer is an online hip-hop and alternative music website and community, described by ''Rolling Stone'' as a "tastemaker" and "an antidote to dull promotional Web sites used by most artists".
The community was founded by The Roots' drummer ...
heralded the album as "a stunningly intimate showcase of the singer’s voice across a range of compositions pulling from all eras of r&b and soul."
Other ventures
Coco O. appeared as a contestant on dancing competition TV series ''
Vild med dans'' in 2019. She and her partner Morten Kjeldgaard finished in second place.
Discography
Albums
EPs
with Quadron
Other appearances
References
External links
Official InstagramCoco O.
on Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coco O
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Danish sopranos
Soul singers
Danish women singer-songwriters
Musicians from Copenhagen
Danish electronic musicians
21st-century Danish women singers