Born in Trinidad, Kojosound, aka Kojo, started his singing career with childhood friends he grew up with in his hometown, St Anns. They formed the boy band New Creation and went on to appear on Trinidadian TV talent show Party Time. The band became an overnight sensation with it’s a capella versions of Boys II Men classics like End Of The Road and So Hard To Say Goodbye.
New Creation was signed to Mike Dolan’s Tattoo Records and recorded their debut album in Eddy Grant’s Blue Wave Studios. The band also won an award for the Best Caribbean R&B group for their reggae-influenced cover of the Beatles Hey Jude. The single reached number 4 in the European music video charts and broke into the UK Top 40.
New Creation also secured a place in Trinidad and Tobago’s history as one of the country’s best known pop groups to have toured and received international recognition, making Kojo well-known to the public. However due to the death of a band member, the group disbanded, with Kojo migrating first to NY and then to London.
On moving to London, Kojo focused on working his way up in the record industry, first as an A&R scout, working for Craig David’s producer Mark Hill and his Stoosh Records imprint. He then reunited with Mike Dolan to form Absolute Records, and later became A&R director for independent label Peromi, signing and producing rising rap star MC Vapour. When Peromi folded he went on to work for legendary reggae label Jetstar as a sales executive.
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Purely by accident, Kojo was convinced to start singing again after an old demo recording of his landed in the hands of Dee Leng, Head of A&R at Jetstar. Leng encouraged Kojo to start writing again and introduced him to reggae producers to formalize his new sound – a brilliant mix of R&B, reggae and soca music.
Kojo’s collaboration with Livingstone Brown has resulted in the release of “Queen Inna Di Ghetto”, which is the first single from his forthcoming album Fahrenheit.
While dancehall and reggaeton further installs itself as sellable sounds worldwide, Trinidad native Kojo arrives with a sexy, slinky dance-ready variant on the soul-pop-calypso fusion. “ Queen Inna Di Ghetto,” is a single that may ensure a successful return to the spotlight for Kojo.
The single pushes the singer’s lithesome voice into an irresistible groove track with the able hand Livingstone Brown who has worked with the cream of the musical crop. The song is danceable and just gets you energized and ready to party. Great tune, catchy lyrics and just an all-around uplifting vibe. I listened to it on my iPod, at the local gym recently, while running on the treadmill, and it kept making me want to stop and dance!
With the release of “ Queen Inna Di Ghetto,” Kojo is raising the temperature again. No doubt his highly anticipated album Fahrenheit will be blazing from head to toe. Overall, this is by far Kojo’s greatest achievement so far. I would be very surprised if the new album doesn’t match or even eclipse the sales and recognition of his prior work.
Don’t be surprised if Kojo has kicked off a welcome new sound-fad here!
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