Why Not? is out now!
Image: Supplied.
Toronto-based singer and songwriter, Kofi has shared his debut album, Why Not?. To celebrate the release, the musician is taking MILKY through the release, track by track!
In my eyes, Why Not? marks a period of time in my music/life where for the first time I was choosing the path that I wanted to take rather than doing what everybody else expected. I was a high level athlete, playing at UCLA, and on the Canadian national team but decided to turn down all professional offers to follow my dreams in music. The phrase ‘why not’ was my attitude towards everyone who had questions. It was the first album I wrote, and I see it as the starting point in my evolution as a musician.
DIAMOND
Diamond is a look into my headspace leading up to the creation of Why Not?. Coming from humble beginnings, the song illustrates the journey of becoming a relevant artist while growing up.
HAUNT ME
Haunt Me is a failed love song. It’s about how your best memories can turn into your worst nightmares and haunt you everywhere you go.
ON ME
On Me is a sequel to Haunt Me, and is about taking responsibility for the part that you played in any relationship gone bad. Although the song is upbeat, it is far from a happy song.
TWO TWO'S
Two Two’s is about the struggle between building a relationship and focusing on yourself. At that point in my life, the two weren’t aligned and it was clear that something would have to give.
BÉ BÉ
I have a habit of writing things into existence.. When I wrote Bé Bé, it was a fictional story about something that could happen. Two years later it the story came true.
SHUT DOWN
Shut Down was one of the first songs I made for the album and it was a complete accident. I was producing another beat when I stumbled onto a synth preset that I thought was fire even though it didn’t fit with what I was working on at the time. I scrapped the other song and produced, wrote, recorded and mixed Shut Down that same night.
IN HERE
In here was a fun track for me, my homie K9 sent me the beat and within the first 5 seconds of it playing I knew I loved it. I sent the song back to him finished the same night.
STORY OF MY LIFE 2
This song started with a piano loop that I had stuck in my head. I had no choice but to record myself playing it and start writing to it. This is probably one of the most honest songs on the record for me.
FACTS FACTS
I love this song. I think it paints a good picture of the life I was living when I recorded the album. I also like the lyricism and the wordplay.
RUNAWAY
One of my favourite moments in my career as an artist so far was one night when my brother “No Name Tim” sent me a legendary beat pack and I stayed up all night with my twin @1elevenq to write and record 10 songs in a row. We called Tim in the morning and played him all of the records. This is one of the records that came out of that. Some of the other records are Got U Already, and Do You Dirty off of my last project. We’re holding some of the records to release at a special moment.
DJ
I appreciate this song from a writing perspective. I think its a skill to be able to get your point across as an artist without explicitly saying what it is. This song on the surface is about me trying to get a DJ to play my song at a party. But it’s really about love. The party is her life, the song she plays is the guy who she lets be a part of it, and I’m asking her to let it be me.
THAT'S WHY
This was one of the earliest additions to the album. I love the guitar, and left it unmixed on purpose to let the song be what it was when we made it.
Why Not? is out now!
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