The rapper interviews for Belaire’s “self made tastes better” video series.
Rapper Kojo Funds has sat down with Luc Belaire CEO Brett Berish as part of the wine brand’s video series Self Made Tastes Better.
Kojo, whose mother is Ghanaian and father is Dominican, has been credited with pioneering the Afro Swing sound that is dominating the UK’s airwaves, fusing West African and Caribbean dance and Afrobeat with British rap, grime and R&B. He joins notable UK artists J Hus, Not3s, Yxng Bane & Lotto Boyz at the forefront of the movement.
As the rapper works on a new single with WizKid and his first album, set for release next year, we breakdown the interview’s top takeaways, from his first freestyle to his musical preferences, working with Stefflon Don and A Boogie wit da Hoodie, and embracing his Ghanaian roots by collaborating with more African artists.
Top interview takeways:
Kojo on starting out and using SoundCloud to reach an audience
My friend had a studio in his house (he’s a producer) and we used to play beats outside in the car park. All our friends would be around and would just freestyle. I got involved for the first time, and they were really shocked like “Wow, Kojo you got something there. Come to the studio and record…i recorded my first song there and put it on SoundCloud…and the response was crazy”
How he creates his music
Freestyle. I wouldn’t write it down. I think of the melody, then I think of the words after. That’s how I operate in the studio.
Coining the term Afroswing
It’s the mixture of afro, which is the African sound, the African element, but it swings from other genres like dancehall, reggae, R&B, U.K rap, rap, and new jack swing as well. But a lot of people don’t really know what new jack swing is… they all probably take it as R&B, but R&B really came from new jack swing. So I kind of mix it up.
On Ghana
They hold it down, they really hold it down. And I feel like just going over there and spending time over there kinda helped it as well, with my music, you know, having that African dialect – it all plays a part.
His musical preferences and being noticed by A Boogie
Kojo: Old school I would say people like Sean Paul, if we’re talking about rappers, people like 50 Cent, Jgar, Jay-Z. New school I like Kodak black, I like A Boogie.
Brett: You did a song with him
Kojo: Yeah, he did a remix to one of my songs “Check”
Brett: Was that the first person to do a remix?
Kojo: Yeah
Brett: What’d that feel like?
Kojo: Amazing, different, it shows that the work I’ve been putting in has been noticed.
Brett: Did he contact you?
Kojo: We met through mutual people. Yeah, he liked the song. He told me he liked the song and he put it on his international artist EP.
Connecting with his African roots
Yeah for facts. I’ve got some music with certain african artists that aren’t released. And I feel like the music should be like that, crossing different parts of the world because we say music’s a language and people understand music.
Working with Stefflon Don
She’s a very vibey person, I respect her a lot. I know her from London. She knows the work. I’ve noticed her work as well. I’m very good friends with her producer as well..the chemistry was there already. That’s not the only song, we’ve got more.
Explaining his name
Kojo is a Ghanaian name for Monday-borns – it’s kind of like a cultural thing. And the Funds, you know I used to, before music, I used to do certain things to make money and my friends gave me that name…then the music came along and it fitted perfectly.
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