One song after the other – Kofi Jamar is at the peak of his music career so far, and he is expected to rise even more. Like host Winston Micheals commented on Y 107.9 FM Ghana’s “Shouts on Y” on 22nd November, the Ghanaian rapper and songwriter does not intend to take his foot off the gas and just keeps going.
On the show, Jamar explains that his drive is to always “feed the streets” which stops him from quitting music. He admits to sometimes taking breaks for his personal business but stresses that he always gets back to work immediately after. And that for him comes with success.
The musician has left people on Twitter speechless with his art. However, he does not rest on that positive feedback: “So far so good”, he says. “But I feel like the higher I go, the more the perception goes as well, and I get to win new fans.”
He is proud to be winning new fans and new souls every day.
Kofi Jamar believes that success is not an overnight thing. Hence has been putting in work for ages now.
Over the years, he has improved his skills impressively. In his song “Dangerous”, he blends two to three languages seamlessly and switched styles effortlessly. “I always want to be different and push a little bit further than what we are used to”, he says.
That can be challenging at times, and he believes that Ghanaians relation to music is an important reason for that. “Ghanaians love the fast food music more than the type of music where you’re going to sit and think over.”
Jamar tries to keep the balance between the two: “I make a conscious effort to try to breach the gap between me making music that will make you think and making music that will just make you shake your butt.”
The rapper also tries to connect the past and the present. His music has a nostalgic touch to it that brings you back to songs of the 90s and the early 2000s. He explains that he loves the Hip Hop he grew up with as well as modern day Hip Hop. So he has found a way to mix the old with the new and blend the two eras uniquely.
Kofi Jamar’s music has remarkable unique beats. He works together with the producer Trino and has been for years now, which explains the heavy base with recognition effect. He says that working together with the same producer for different songs has helped his craft because the two of them go back and therefore, he knows the rapper’s idea.
Jamar calls Trino the “man behind the machines”. He is the “brain” that can also influence the producer to give him the types of beats that he wants. “That makes working with him nice”, he concludes.
The Ghanaian’s newest song, “Plan B”, is made to be relatable for a lot of people. It talks about trying something for the first time and it doesn’t work, you need to use other means to get to the thing that you are trying to do. Kofi Jamar’s inspiration for the song was to motivate people “out there” – according to the motto “If it doesn’t work for me, I’m coming up with a plan B”.
Jamar’s plans for December are quite busy – he is going to have “back-to-back” shows. For now, he is focusing on pushing “Plan B”. The rapper also tells that he is trying to revive the American culture and push his way behind it. When he travelled to Kenya a couple of years ago, he had a nice and humbling experience teaching him that he should not only be doing music for Ghanaians. “People out there are dying to hear our music”, he says with passion.
But Kofi Jamar not only burns for his songs. He also puts a lot of work into his music videos – and it shows. They are unique and show lots of colours. The videos truly illustrate what the music is trying to say. The musician explains that he contributes to their concept as well. He sits down together with his team, brings his vision together with theirs, and tries to bring it all together.
You can stream “Plan B” on all platforms and find Kofi Jamar on social media – he is on Twitter, Instagram and Tiktok.
