Mikayla Victoria Simpson (born 16 February 2000), better known as Koffee, is a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispanio ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

singer, songwriter, rapper, and guitarist from

Spanish Town Spanish Town ( jam, label= Jamaican Creole, Panish Tong) is the capital and the largest town in the parish of St. Catherine in the historic county of Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the Spanish and British capital of Jamaica from 1534 until 1872. T ...

. She released her debut single "Burning" in 2017, and in 2019 signed with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. Her 2019 EP ''

Rapture The rapture is an eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all Christian believers who are alive, along with resurrected believers, will rise "in the c ...

'' won the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for

Best Reggae Album The Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1985 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works in the reggae music genre. Honors in sev ...

at the

62nd Annual Grammy Awards The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 26, 2020, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019. Ali ...

, making Koffee the youngest person and only woman to be awarded in the Best Reggae Album category. Her most recent album ''

Gifted Intellectual giftedness is an intellectual ability significantly higher than average. It is a characteristic of children, variously defined, that motivates differences in school programming. It is thought to persist as a trait into adult life, wi ...

'' was released March 25, 2022.

Early life and career

Koffee's mother was an occasional actress,

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, ...

, and a Ministry of Health employee. Koffee's first musical inspirations stemmed from her mother's religious background. She sang in her church choir, taught herself guitar at the age of 12 on an instrument borrowed from a friend, and began writing lyrics inspired by listening to reggae singer

Protoje Oje Ken Ollivierre (born 14 June 1981), popularly known as Protoje, is a contemporary reggae singer and songwriter from Jamaica. His mother is Jamaican singer Lorna Bennett, best known for her 1972 rendition of "Breakfast in Bed".Johnson, Ri ...

. She attended Ardenne High School in Kingston, Jamaica.

2010s

In 2016, she won her school talent show at Ardenne High School located in Kingston,

without realizing that the informal show at which she performed in her school cafeteria had been an audition. She went on to learn music theory and vocal technique in her high school choir. A defining moment for Koffee occurred her final year of high school, when she performed at her school's talent show with other gifted artists in front of about 1,000 people. She indicated that the show gave her the first bit of confidence to perform and deliver music live. Koffee gained popularity after uploading a video to Instagram of her singing. In 2017 she released her first single, "Legend", with just her voice and acoustic guitar. A tribute to Jamaican sprinter

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay. An eight-tim ...

, the song became a viral

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

hit, once the athlete reposted it on his own Instagram. Awareness of the violence and social problems she witnessed growing up has influenced her lyrics, and besides

and

Chronixx Jamar Rolando McNaughton (born 10 October 1992), popularly known as Chronixx, is a Jamaican reggae artist. His stage name replaced the name "Little Chronicle" which he was given because of his father, the singer "Chronicle".Jackson, Kevin (2014) ...

she has cited Super Cat and Giggs among her musical inspirations. Koffee was introduced by

Cocoa Tea Calvin George Scott (born 3 September 1959), better known as Cocoa Tea, is a Jamaican reggae singer and songwriter. Biography Born in Rocky Point, Clarendon Parish, Jamaica, Cocoa Tea was popular in Jamaica from 1985, but has become succes ...

at the Rebel Salute, a reggae festival, and has also performed with her musical inspirations Protoje and Chronixx. "Burning", her take on Upsetta Records' Ouji Riddim (which had been made popular by Jamaican artists

Busy Signal Reanno Devon Gordon (born 24 January 1979), better known by his stage name Busy Signal, is a Jamaican dancehall reggae artist. Biography Reanno Devon Gordon p/k/a Busy Signal was born in Saint Ann Parish,Johnson, Carolyn (2006)A Very Busy Chi ...

and Luciano), followed. "Burning" grew out of her desire to inspire herself to push forward despite disappointment at not getting into post-secondary Sixth Form after she graduated from Ardenne High School. In June she spent three weeks at number one on The Foundation Radio Network's Top 30 Reggae Chart covering

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of ...

. In 2018, Jamaican reggae/dancehall singer, songwriter, and deejay

brought her on stage at the 2018 Rebel Salute and Rototom Sunsplash in Jamaica and Spain respectively. Protoje asked her to perform with him. Chronixx invited her to join him a

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been c ...

broadcast from Tuff Gong Studios, and she went on to tour with him in the UK at venues such as Bush Hall and at

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Ori ...

. Koffee and Chronixx appeared on BBC Music Introducing...LIVE on November 10. Koffee's December 2018 single "Raggamuffin" called out

gun violence Gun-related violence is violence committed with the use of a firearm. Gun-related violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable), assault with a deadly weapon, a ...

and governmental neglect of the youth. BBC Radio 1Xtra named Koffee one of its "Hot for 2019" artists. Her next single, "Toast", was produced by (izybeats) and (Walshy Fire) of

Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. It originates from Kingston, Jamaica, and was founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after ...

. Both Chronixx and Protoje appear in the video. In 2019,

Tory Lanez Daystar Shemuel Shua Peterson (born July 27, 1992), known professionally as Tory Lanez, is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, and convicted felon. He received initial recognition from the mixtape ''Conflicts of My Soul: The 416 Story'', rel ...

made a remix to "Toast" as a part of his International Fargo project which can be found on SoundCloud. In 2018, she also signed with

UK, and ''

''. Her debut EP on the label, was released on March 14, 2019. Her "Throne" video, which takes viewers on a tour through her home town of Spanish Town, Jamaica, debuted on ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is ow ...

'' on 22 January 2019. On 13 November 2019, Koffee was announced as an opening act for

Harry Styles Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series ''The X Factor''. Following his elimination, he was brought ...

on select dates of the North American leg of his 2020

Love On Tour Love On Tour is the ongoing second concert tour by English singer-songwriter Harry Styles, in support of his second and third studio albums, '' Fine Line'', which was released on 13 December 2019, and '' Harry's House'', which was released on 2 ...

, and on 3 December as an opening act for the Latin American leg. On 26 November 2019, Koffee released her first cross-over collaborative single "W", featuring hip-hop artist Gunna.

2020s

''Rapture'' won a

at the

, making Koffee the youngest person (at 19 years old) and only woman to be awarded in the

category. Koffee was the musical guest on

Nick Cannon Nicholas Scott Cannon (born October 8, 1980) is an American television host, actor, rapper, and comedian. In television, Cannon began as a teenager on ''All That'' before going on to host ''The Nick Cannon Show'', '' Wild 'n Out'', ''America's ...

's sketch comedy and improv television series ''

Wild 'N Out ''Wild 'N Out'' is an American sketch comedy and improv game show series that was created and is hosted by musician and comedian Nick Cannon currently airing on VH1. It debuted on July 28, 2005 on MTV. In April 2019, the series had been renewe ...

'' which aired on February 18, 2020 on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communi ...

. In October 2020, Koffee was named by ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'' magazine as one of "10 Trailblazing Women Changing The Future You Need To Know", the others being: Mowalola Ogunlesi, Tobi Kyeremateng, Ngozi Onwurah, Simi Lindgren, Balanda Atis, Magdalene Abraha, Holly Fischer, Celeste and

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Let ...

. Her debut full-length album, ''

'', was released on 25 March 2022 to positive reviews.Reggae star drops ‘Gifted’ album
, ''Manila Standard'', 26 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022

Awards and nominations

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

As a featured artist

Other guest appearances

References

{{authority control 2000 births Living people 21st-century Jamaican women singers Grammy Award winners People from Spanish Town Columbia Records artists